Glass 
Book 



THE 



GLORY 

OF 

THE HEAVENS; 

OR, 

REFLECTIONS ON THE ANALOGY 

BETWEEN THE 

WORKS AND WORD OF GOD, 

BY THOMAS* BASELEY, M« A. 



For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are 
clearly seen, being understood by the tilings that are made, even 
his eternal power and Godhead. st. paul. 



THE SECOND EDITION, 

CORRECTED AND ENLARGED. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED BY B. M'MILLAN, BOW STREET, COVENT GARDEN, 
PRINTER TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES " y 

AND SOLD BY T. SIMPSON, 337, OXFORD STREET; 
AND ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS, 

1810, 



PREFACE 



THIS little performance has no othef 
claim to public favour than being an humble 
attempt to illustrate some of the sublimest 
phenomena of Nature,, by the light of Reve- 
lation ; and to shew^ that Religion and Phi- 
losophy have a closer relation to each other 
than the generality of mankind seem willing 
to allow. 

It is a fatal mistake, and it is one which 
has been too mueh encouraged by persons 
who profess themselves friends to Literature, 
that in proportion as human knowledge is 
extended^ the Sacred Writings become ob- 
scure, and perplexed with difficulties. 

To counteract this error, and to confirm 
the declarations of Scripture by the discover 



iv 

ries of modern Science, must be a work of 
considerable importance to the best interests 
of society ; and though the present humble 
Essay has certainly no pretensions to the 
character of a systematic view of the subject, 
it may serve, in a low degree, to aid the 
contemplative mind, while engaged in me- 
ditating on the Works and in reading the 
Word of God. 

Timid piety has been often afraid to admit 
the conclusions of astronomical observation; 
and though the voice of Inspiration has pro- 
nounced, that the <c Heavens declare the 
cc glory of God, and that the firmament 
cc sheweth his handy work,'' many religious 
minds have been induced, from a narrow 
consideration of the Mosaic Cosmogony, to 
deny a plurality of worlds. 

Infidels, on the other hand, have endea- 
voured to invalidate the Sacred History, on 



V 

the ground that the account which it gives 
of the origin and constitution of the universe, 
is contrary to experience. 

Now that the timidity of the one, and the 
presumption of the other, are alike unwar- 
ranted by the spirit of the Heavenly Oracles, 
and even by the letter too, when thoroughly 
examined and compared, must prove a great 
consolation to those who make them the rule 
of life and the comfort of the heart. Their 
doubts will vanish when they see Philosophy 
acting as the handmaid of Religion, and find 
that the improvements of Science serve as 
powerful helps to devotion. Hereby they 
will also be enabled effectually to confute 
the cavils of the gainsayer, while, in pursu- 
ance of the apostolical direction, they cc are 
€C ready always to give an answer to every 
(e man that asketh them a reason of the hope 
e: that is in them." 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

G0D 9 o,. .......... 1 

Man, 23 

Religion and Science, 37 

The Atmosphere, 53 

Clouds, *t 63 

Light, , 96 

The Sun, 122 

The Moon, = 157 

The Planets, 187 

Fixed Stars, 287 

The Heaven of Heavens, 324 

The Conclusion, 342 

Notes, 355 



THE GLORY 



OF 



THE HEAVENS. 



GOD. 



— all things speak of God ; but in the small 
Men trace out Him j in great, he seizes Man ! 

YOUNG. 



ON entering a gallery of original paint- 
ing, figures wonderfully excellent strike 
us with powerful attraction. Every persoa 
of taste and sensibility perceives instanta- 
neously their paramount distinction ; and 
the first emotion produced thereby in 
well-informed minds, is some degree of 



2 

solicitude about the author; for nothing 
has so direct a reference to its cause, as 
merit of every description. Much laud- 
able ingenuity is displayed in discriminating 
the different masters,, ascertaining their re- 
spective eminence, pointing out the specific 
characteristics of the several schools to 
which they belonged \ the amateurs under 
whose auspices they studied, the correct- 
ness of their designs, their colouring, and 
their costume. In all this minute investi- 
gation, what should we think of the critic 
or connoisseur, who could gravely allege, 
that all the diversified apparatus around us 
originates in no cause, that not one of 
these masterly pictures m the work of any 
artist whatever, and that the w hole resulted 
Hjot from intelligence or design, but from 
blind impulse and lawless chance ? So, 
they who. survey the magnificent machinery 
of Nature, and more especially the. won- 



s 

derful phenomena of the skies, and yet can 
harbour a doubt of the invisible Creator, 
or indeed are not impressed, wherever therf 
eyes wander, or their meditations rest, 
with a deep sense of an ever-present God, 
either have not the faculty of reason, or 
pervert it to gratify their passions, or to 
strengthen their impiety* 

The hopes and fears which alternately 
Expand and depress the human heart, 
evince our connexion with another state of 
being, and that our destiny is not confined 
to the narrow precincts of mortality. This 
material existence seems to be only in order 
to otste, spiritual, invisible, and immortal. 
Our present condition is not stationary, or 
in a circle, but is obviously progressive; it 
begins, indeed, amidst the manifold frail- 
ties of flesh and blood, but terminates in 
the consummations of a world to come, 
b % 



4 

Nature and mankind coincide, as they 
ever have done, in recognising, establish- 
ing, and avowing, this great primary, fun- 
damental, and general fact. It results 
from the well-known analogies of the for- 
mer, accords w ith the universal convictions 
and practice of the latter, and is the only 
key by which the mechanism and tendency 
of our system can be satisfactorily explained, 
or adapted to rational comprehension. The 
most untutored of the species is more or 
less conscious of a principle, an impulse or 
a power within him, which occasionally 
lifts him above the sphere of his senses, 
and by which he endeavours to solve the 
phenomena, both above and about him, in 
a way the most obvious to his understand- 
ing and his senses. The pageantry of the 
Indian's idolatry, gross and sordid as it 
may appear to more enlightened minds, is 
as much an object of reverence to him, as 



our religious institutions are to us. He 
cannot perhaps explain the sentiment he 
indulges, defend the preference which im- 
poses on his credulity, ascertain the in- 
tention for which Nature stamps these im- 
pressions on his heart, or even perceive by 
what ministry, or through what medium, 
be receives the intimation of any being or 
beings superior to himself. But notwith- 
standing this want of acuteness and re- 
finement, his pious regards and devout 
aspirations may be more genuine, sincere, 
and acceptable, than those of the philo- 
sopher, with all his acquirements and ad- 
vantages. While in the act of doing 
homage to the sun, the moon, and the 
stars, whom he considers as the great 
source of all his blessings and enjoyments, 
his gratitude may be as pure as that of the 
cloistered recluse, the visionary enthusiast, 
or the reasoner who resolves all religion. 



6 

into speculation. The piety of Nature's un- 
tutored child, indeed, has this in its 
favour, that he adores the effect only, by 
a mistaken substitution of it for the cause. 
But our habitual inattention to the one, 
indicates a criminal indifference to the 
other. He would do his duty, but he is 
ignorant of its nature ; we know ours, but 
leave it undone. 

It is a maxim founded in experience, 
and the history of the species, that in no 
state of the human intellect, improved or 
unimproved, is it ever maturely disposed* 
ultimately at least, to rest in present ap- 
pearances. The highest eminence of sci-r 
ence man ascends, another still higher 
catches his eye, and tempts his pursuits. 



Hope springs eternal in the human breast ; 
Man never is, but always to be blest. 



7 

Unlike the tortoise, fastened to its na- 
tive shell, or the beaver and other ani- 
mals, which are under the sole direction 
of impulse or instinct, though often ap- 
proximating to something resembling rea- 
son or science, it is his nature and habit to 
go forward ; and whatever his situation or 
attainments may be, to improve both the 
one and the other. 

There is a propensity or spirit in all our 
motions and exertions, which bears an affi- 
nity to a higher system, which is not ih 
unison with any known properties of mat- 
ter, and which abstracting our affections 
from things evanescent and momentary, is 
continually propelling them to such as are 
superior and invisible. 

For these last, unless when perverted by 
prejudice, passion, or vice, our natures 

b 4 



8 

discover a decided preference. All the 
flagitious superstitions whose sanguinary 
edicts blacken our records, as well as all 
that bright assemblage of intelligence, 
which has so often, and in so many ways 
illuminated human life, have been gene- 
rated by this prolific faculty. Here we 
trace the primary dawnings of that meri- 
dian splendour, by which the sun of sci- 
ence hath in many different and distant 
ages and countries, enlightened and dis- 
tinguished so many nations. This points 
through all the various combinations of 
matter, one pervading mind, and is the 
great index which decyphers the minutest 
figure on the dial-plate of the universe, 
and at the same time acquaints more or 
less all its intelligent inhabitants with his 
nature and perfections, who made them, 
and by whom they are governed. By a 
tsirn for investigation thus natural, and 



9 

for the most part unavoidable in such 
circumstances, and connected with such 
dispositions as ours, whatever excites at- 
tention or occasions observation, stimu- 
lates inquiry, and is the means of im- 
proving our knowledge of the Deity- 
He is known by his works, as certainly 
as any human artist can be by his. These 
are uniformly pregnant with the most im- 
portant information concerning him. From 
them we learn much of his character, and 
many of his perfections. They are uni- 
versal, intelligible, and unequivocal docu- 
ments of who he is, what he can do, and 
the relation in which he stands, as well to 
us as to them. And here his attributes, 
his intentions, his energies, and the whole 
character of his divine government, are 
every where so legible, that he who runs, 
may read his power, wisdom, and good- 
ness. 



10 

It has, indeed, been much and plausibly 
questioned, whether the discovery of one 
supreme intelligent cause of all things, be 
the induction of reason or the result of in- 
struction. But the chief considerations on 
which the solution turns, are now so com- 
pletely involved, and run into each other 
so intimately, that it may not perhaps be 
easy to say on which side the truth lies. 
Portunatelv the decision, however curious 
from its intricacy it may be supposed, be- 
comes the less important, since we are ac- 
tually put in possession of a clue, which 
happily frees our minds from all the dif- 
ficulties and embarrassments into which ig- 
norance and temerity had plunged them, 
establishes the reality of the divine existence, 
by leading us to the fountain-head of ail 
true knowledge, and by the guidance of which 
we can be no longer at anv loss to account 
for any phenomena otherwise inexplicable. 



11 

The material world has in consequence 
emerged from the palpable darkness in 
which it was involved, and presents us 
with a striking image of its Maker, by 
the light reflected from that which is invi* 
sible. We henceforth regard it as a theatre 
on which the agency and attributes of the 
Almighty are conspicuously displayed, and 
by the simple medium of which, he holds 
uninterrupted correspondence with the 
whole of his family, in all the various 
ways of which they are capable. Na- 
ture thus interpreted, is susceptible but 
of one construction. Her language, al- 
ways simple and direct, is every where the 
same ; and there is no nation or country 
on earth unfurnished with those means, by 
which it may be equally and clearly un- 
derstood. 

This we call the theology of Nature, a* 



12 

the elements of it, at least, are perspicu- 
ously detailed in her works. Whatever we 
know of the Divinity, apart from the posi- 
tive instructions he vouchsafes, is from the 
contrivance and design manifested in sys- 
tems with which we are acquainted, the 
disposition and molions of the heavenly 
bodies, the nature of the planet we inhabit, 
the process of the vegetable world, and the 
animal organization or mechanism. 

What are these, separate or combined, 
but an expressive picture of their Author? 
and the more they are considered and com- 
prehended, his power, wisdom, and benig- 
nity will be better understood, and be 
more illustrious and impressive. It is the 
steady and solid conviction that he is, and 
that his attention to the greatest and best 
of his creatures is unmerited, which con- 
stitutes the basis of our hopes, and gives 



beauty, harmony, and interest, to the uni- 
verse. Take him out of it, and chaos comes 
again ; but replace him at its head, where 
from everlasting to everlasting he is God, 
then Nature resumes her sweetness, and all 
Creation smiles with joy. How majestic 
and sublime is the poet's conception ! 

I saw, when at his word, this formless mass, 
The world's material mould, came to a heap ; 
Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar stood rul'd I 

MILTON. 

Reader! hast thou ever conceived what 
an appearance Nature would make, aban- 
doned to the mere impulse of matter? 
Clouds obedient to the laws of gravity, 
would fall perpendicularly upon the earth, 
and we should soon find our atmosphere too 
dense or too rarefied for the organs of re- 
spiration. The moon, either too near or 
too distant, would be alternately visible and 
invisible, look blood v. and covered with. 



14 

enormous spots, or alone fill the whole 
celestial concave with her disproportionate 
orb. Seized, as it were, with a sort of 
frenzy, she would rush along an uninter- 
rupted line of eclipse, or rolling from side 
to side, expose the other face, which the 
earth has never yet beheld. The stars 
would appear under the influence of the 
same caprice, and nothing be seen but a 
succession of preposterous and tremendous 
conjunctions. One of the summer signs 
would suddenly be overtaken by one of the 
signs, of winter ; and the Lion would roar 
in Aquarius. Here, the stars would dart 
along with the rapidity of lightning; there, 
be suspended motionless: now crouching 
together in groups, they would form new 
galaxies, and then disappearing at once* 
and rending the curtains of the world, ex-* 
pose to view the secrets of Nature and the 
abysses of Eternity. 



15 

Nothing but the Almighty's presence 
preserves all the parts of Creation in uni- 
son, and gives energy and effect to that 
mysterious agency which connects* conso- 
lidates, and binds them into one vast com- 
prehensive whole. It is the strength of 
his unseen arm which hangs them upon 
nothing, and by which they perpetually 
circulate as on invisible springs. His power 
protects and upholds them in their respec- 
tive situations* and enables them to sus- 
tain their relations with propriety. It is 
by the breath of his mouth the whole beau- 
tiful assemblage of shining worlds exists 5 
and when he withdraws it, they are ex* 
ti$ct. What then is the spacious and 
magnificent Creation,, but an expressive 
and, majestic representation of his infi- 
nite power and exuberant love, who sur- 
veyed every thing that he had made with 
complacency, and behold it was very good? 



16 

Is not immeasurable space crowded with 
columns to the honour of the Divine 
Artist ? These are one and all inscribed to 
his name, illustrate the excellence of his 
perfection, and perpetuate his praise. The 
vast canopy of Heaven may be considered 
more particularly as an immense area, 
•where the matchless wonders of his skill 
and contrivance mark an eternal exhibition, 
through all their spheres and evolutions, 
before an intelligent and astonished uni- 
verse. A variety of worlds, exceeding all 
comprehension in number and magnitude, 
in which our terrestrial globe is but an 
atom, are stationary in their order, des-> 
tiny, and rotation. When, therefore, we 
seriously reflect how the Creator of all 
things, hath placed and balanced our earth 
in the midst of the air, and the universe, 
as it were, in the midst of nothing ; how he 
hath hung for so many important uses 



M 

these glorious lights of Heaven, the sun* 
the moon, and the stars, and made paths 
in the sky for their courses ;— instituted 
the regular circle of the seasons, summer 
and winter, seed-time and harvest; — ■ 
how he hath stocked our earth with inna-* 
bitants, and rendered it fertile for their 
sustenance and accommodation; and laid 
the sea in heaps, that though it may over* 
look, yet cannot overflow the land ; 
—•who can possibly doubt the exceeding 
greatness of his power, the infinite re- 
sources of his wisdom, the plenitude of his 
goodness, and the bounty of his provi- 
dence ? 

The following lines present us with such 
a picturesque view of the celestial regions, 
so often alluded to in these pages, that it- 
were unpardonable to omit them. 



c 



18 

So late descried by Herschel's piercing sight, 
Hang the bright squadrons of the twinkling night ; . 
Ten thousand marshall'd stars,, or silver zone, 
Effuse their blended lustres round her throne 5 
Suns call to suns, in lucid clouds conspire, 
And light exterior skies with golden fire } 
Resistless rolls th' illimitable sphere, 
And one great circle forms th' unmeasur'd year. 

By the late convulsions in the political 
and moral world, reserved for these last 
times, the minds of men, for the most 
part, have been strangely staggered and 
confounded. All that is respectable in 
society, venerable in virtue, or interesting 
in religion, are now avowedly violated! 
An evil spirit of atheistical bigotry, dashed 
with a temerity indicating more or less of 
mental derangement, command a most un- 
accountable ascendancy, even in popular 
opinion. Dogmas and paradoxes, which 
our forefathers treated with indignity and 
abhorrence, are actually become the creed 
of the vulgar! It is the monstrous spawn 



19 

of a philosophy, the opprobrium of modern 
literature and science, and the pitiful en- 
gine by which infidelity and impiety would 
exterminate divine revelation. These blas- 
phemous agents of reform, like the fabled 
giants of old, would scale the Heavens, 
and at one blow annihilate the whole spi- 
ritual world ! 

Their maxim is, to credit nothing beyond 
their senses, without either calculating the 
magnitude of what challenges assent, or 
the extent even of our sensible faculties. 
All Nature is to them an inexplicable 
enigma, and they insist on plunging into 
this unfathomable abyss without interrupt 
tion! 

This pestilent infatuation hath seized the 
lowest as well as the highest, and reduces 
the ignorant and enlightened, the clown 
c 2 



20 

and philosopher, to one sordid and ignoble 
level ; and they who formerly shrunk from 
the requisitions of piety only, and derided 
revelation as priestcraft, with vulgar wit, 
can now boldly ridicule even the belief of a 
God, deride the sanctions of conscience, 
and laugh at the idea of a world to 
come! 

This unmanly dereliction of principle^ 
and base apostacy from the religion of our 
country, hath roused, as might well have 
been expected, in its defence, some of the 
ablest champions of truth. Among the 
last and best efforts of this nature, are Dr. 
Paley's Natural Theology [a], and the 
Bamptonian Lectures of the Rev. Edward 
Nares [6]. With these strong barriers 
or ramparts against the fide of irreli- 
gion, which now rages at its height, and 
furiously assaults whatever is sacred,/ 



21 

we would establish such mounds and em- 
bankments as may repel its accumulated 
violence; and we know not, in detecting, 
opposing, and defeating the adversaries of 
our faith, where to take our stand on 
firmer ground, than on the same well-con- 
structed, solid, and deep foundation. 

To give science its proper direction, and 
to lead the attentive observer through Na«- 
ture up to Nature's God, is the object of 
these humble pages. Perhaps no better 
apology can be assigned for prefixing such 
a pompous title to a work so insignificant, 
than that our language affords no word 
more appropriate to the Author's concep- 
tion of his own design ; and no one can 
regret more sincerely than he does, that 
his object is not more happily and com- 
pletely executed. He confides in the can- 
dour of his readers to forgive the imper- 
c 3 



m 

fections of his honest labours for their im- 
provement, and he hopes they will accept 
his best wishes, that what is meant well, 
may be well received, and that his weak 
endeavours to serve them may not only 
please, but profit. 



23 



MAN. 



For the heaven's wide circuit, let it speak 
The Maker's high magnificence, who built 
So spacious, and his line stretch'd out so far, 
That man may know he dwells not in his own $ 
An edi6ce too large for him to fill, 
Lodg'd in a small partition > and the rest 
Ordain' d for uses to his Lord best known. 

MILTON* 



In the whole compass of human in- 
telligence, there is nothing more curious 
and interesting than the history of man. 
Among animals who surround him, of the 
same origin with himself, and partakers of 
the same elements, who live by the same 
means, and make a similar exit, he stands 



alone, unclassed and almost undefined. 
Whether in society or solitude, he is uni~ 
formly the first figure and principal actor 
in the scene. In every post he fills, and 
situation he sustains, the qualities he dis-* 
plays, and the duties he performs, connect 
him with the future as well as with the 
present ; and though he comes up and is 
cut down like a flower , he has something 
in him, that will certainly remain when this 
earth is destroyed, and when the sun and 
moon themselves are extinct. His make, 
both in mind and body, appears to our 
limited comprehension a mass of contra^ 
diction ; his genius as volatile and eccentric 
as the lightning, and its flashes oftentimes 
as fatal and vivid. His intellect, fitted to dis- 
sect a gnat, or analyse a cobweb, would fain 
grasp immensity at the same time, and 
stretch into the unfathomable abyss of Eter- 
nity, His passions, which are to him as 



£5 

wind to a ship, by turns rise and fall, accu- 
mulate and subside, like the gusts of a hur- 
ricane. His reason, though it acts the part 
of a pilot at the helm, is never so apt to 
sleep as when the sea swells, the storm 
rages, and the vessel drifts with every cur- 
rent ; and his heart, habitually duped by 
his senses, is alternately soft as wax and 
hard as flint. 

Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state, 
A being darkly wise and rudely great, 
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side. 
With too much greatness for the stoic's pride, 
He hangs between, in doubt to act or rest j 
In doubt to deem himself a god or beast j 
In doubt his mind or body to prefer, 
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err; 
Alike in ignorance, his reason such, 
Whether he thinks too little or too much. 
Chaos of thought and passion all confus'd, 
Still by himself abus'd or disabus'd : 
Created, half to rise and half to fall, 
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all : 
Sole judge of truth, in endless ruin hurl'd j 
The glory, jest, and riddle, of the world ! 

POPE. 



26 

This anomalous and versatile creature is 
feigned, in the dreams of the poets and 
fabulists, as originally fondled in Nature's 
lap, and pampered by all her luxuries, 
On his birth she smiled auspicious, and all 
her energies shed benign influence upon 
him. He was nursed in her bosom, car- 
ried in her arms, dandled on her knee, 
slept on a bed of roses, and wherever he 
went, a profusion of flowers strewed his 
path, and every thing smiled around him, 
in beauty and gaiety ! 

all Heaven 
And happy constellations, at that hour, 
Shed their selectest influence j the earth 
Gave signs of gratulation, and each hill ; 
Joyous the birds j fresh gales and gentle airs 
Whisper'd it to the woods, and from their wings 
Flung rose j flung odours, from the spicy shrubs I 

MILTON. 

His infancy, wrapt in this soft elysium, 
passed away in scenes of innocence and fes- 



27 

tivity ; and as he grew in stature, he in- 
creased in intellect. Sensual gratification 
and corporeal exercise probably occupied 
his youth. Here was no lawless eccentri- 
city ! no unhallowed fermentation ! no 
sordid pursuit ! no sinister bias ! no low 
design ! no vicious temerity ! His chief 
enjoyment then consisted in scaling the 
mountain's craggy front, chasing the game 
in the plains, traversing the forest, climb- 
ing the trees, searching the rivers for pro- 
vision, and preferring whatever shelter 
chance afforded him for repose [c]. 

This properly introduced him to a life 
of nature, and gave him all the ingenuity, 
hardihood, and agility, his situation re- 
quired, and made him acquainted with 
the objects and scenes among which he 
was destined to pass the remainder of his 
days. His contemplations were inter- 



m 

rupted by no intrusion, but from the natu- 
ral recurrence of appetite ; and present 
competence precluded all solicitude for fu- 
turity. He acquired no property but the 
herds he rescued from the wilds in which 
they roamed ; he had no employment, but 
to watch and preserve them from the 
beasts of prey ; and his care for their sus- 
tenance was the less, as their pasturage was 
unlimited. In such a state of plenty and 
tranquillity, all the implements of his in- 
dustry were a shepherd's crook, his staff, 
and his dog ; all his stock in trade were a 
few animals; and his capital, the waste 
or common on which they fed. Thus, 
hermit-like, 

The moss his bed, the cave his humble cell, 
His food the fruit, his drink the crystal well ; 
Remote from man, with God he past his days, 
Prayer all his bus'ness, all his pleasure praise. 

FA It NELL. 



W 

His felicity, thus circumstanced, was a 
conjunction of nature, innocence, and sim- 
plicity. These gracious qualities hallowed 
the very ground on which he trod, and 
converted the face of the whole Creation 
into one holy and lively transcript of Hea- 
ven ! All his enjoyments he received with 
humility, appropriated them to the service 
and honour of the bounteous Donor, and 
repaid them, with gratitude, in the dutiful 
acknowledgment of willing obedience. 

But this bower of fruition, the mere 
fabric of a voluptuous imagination, was 
soon demolished. Art interfered, and Na- 
ture was no more ! The outline of man's 
life was of course reversed. He fell at his 
birth into the rugged arms of adversity, 
who never forsook him indeed, but never 
indulged him in any after stage of exist« 
ence. He was allowed little or no sunshine, 



30 

but was placed on the shadowy and bleak 
side of the hill. Affliction became his 
nurse, necessity his tutor, and suffering his 
companion, all the days of his life. Im- 
mured while young with multitudes in 
cities and schools, corruption crept into all 
bis habits, disease debilitated his body, 
sensuality debased his affections, and sci- 
ence, or philosophy falsely so called, per* 
verted his mind. 

Early alienated from Nature, and de- 
praved by fastidious refinement, he grew 
blind to her beauties, and insensible of her 
charms ; exchanged simplicity for prudery, 
wisdom for folly, reality for fiction, and 
the golden for the iron age ! Ignorance, 
distortion, and imposture, quickly per* 
Vaded the universe ! Every thing became 
misplaced, disfigured, and disjointed ; Ima- 
gination sickened at the sight, and hit- 



31 

man invention teemed with monsters. Na- 
ture, contemplated under such a bias, 
grew frightful, deformed and forbidding! 
It was the ruin of innocence, which reduced 
the works of the Almighty to this direful 
wreck. Our revolt from the Maker and 
Father of existence, operated like a blight 
on his offspring, and seized the whole Crea- 
tion with a kind of paralytic stroke ! Na- 
ture felt the shock at her heart ! It wi- 
thered the bloom which had adorned her 
countenance; clouded the beauties that 
wantoned in her bosom, and cast a pale 
and deadly hue over all her sweetest fea- 
tures ! 

Under a similar apathy or perversion of 
moral perception, we still walk through her 
finest groves, occupy her loveliest retreats s 
and behold her most voluptuous scenery, 
like one without taste or skill, in galleries 



32 

of exquisite paintings, the deaf ifi an or-* 
chestra of ravishing music, or the blind 
in a galaxy of beauty ! 

It was now that the knowledge of one 
supreme intelligent Author of all things, 
burst upon the world, lost and bewildered 
in impiety and delusion as it was, like the 
meridian sun through a murky hemisphere ! 
The human faculties became gradually illu- 
minated by the splendour which then 
blazed around them ! 

This was a new epoch in the history of 
our nature ! and the mind of Man gained 
fresh ardour, or acquired an additional 
spring, from its influence. His taste and 
affections experienced, more or less, a 
change, from sense to sentiment, from ani- 
mal to mental predilection, and from mere 
organic to rational existence. 



33 

Impressed by information thus superna^ 
tural and divine, as a moral and thinking 
creature, he would intuitively pause, and 
endeavour to recollect where he was, or 
why placed in a scene equally pregnant 
with the profoundest mystery and the sub- 
limest wisdom. The candid pursuits of 
indefatigable diligence and modest inquiry 
after truth and duty, are seldom disap- 
pointed. They are means of knowledge 
which Nature herself hath ordained, and 
like all her other institutions, are equally 
clear and simple. Thus conjecturing the 
objects every where presented to their in- 
genuity and construction, to be the neces- 
sary effects of an unseen, but all-wise con- 
trivance, men gradually perceived them- 
selves, by progressive intelligence and ma- 
ture experience, to be the image of the 
invisible God, and the offspring of the 
same parent, and members of the same 
family. 



34 

This was the patriarchal system, which 
combined more piety, science, and philo- 
sophy, perhaps, than any subsequent sys- 
tem. The patriarchs were a kind of in- 
dependent princes, who presided in their 
own families, as the fathers and rulers of 
them, by hereditary and paternal right, 
and they were probably more eminent and 
respectable for their wisdom than wealth. 
Having no imperious interest to entangle 
them with secular affairs, or to rivet them 
to the earth, their minds were at liberty to 
expatiate on all the spectacles of curiosity 
and objects of sense within their reach. 
Indeed, all the intelligence they had, and 
all the art they knew, were probably em- 
ployed, not so much in accelerating the 
civilities of society, as in acquainting them- 
selves with Nature, and in mastering her 
secrets[rf]. Whatever they saw, heard, 
or touched, became to them, animated 
as they must have then been with an 



S3 

eager aptitude for knowledge, an e£- 
citement to investigation; and they re- 
garded the works of Creation with senti- 
ments of amazement, and in some instances 
of adoration, in proportion to the novelty, 
the splendour, and the mystery of the 
scenery they surveyed ! 

Nature courted their solicitude, as she 
usually does that of all ingenuous minds, 
and struck them as a most expressive sym- 
bol of her Maker, the novum organum of 
Bacon, or in the sublimer language of 
Newton, the sensorium of Deity ! 

The wonders both of earth and heaven, 
were no doubt then contemplated with 
equal fervour and anxiety, by men thus 
unavoidably alive to all the charms of 
beauty and sublimity, which flashed con- 
viction on their minds from every aspect 
p2 



36 

of the universe] eager to develop and 
tra£e the characters of one great designing 
cause, so legibly stamped on every part of 
God's Creation; and happy to admire the 
number, magnitude, and glory of his works I 



37 



RELIGION AND SCIENCE. 



Two principles endow the soul of man, 

His understanding and his better will: 

That> through a thirst of knowledge he perfects j 

This, by his goodness, more ennobled shines : 

Nothing below can more enlarge the first, 

Or raise the last, than studying Nature's rules ; 

Rules, which observ'd, will lead to Nature's God ! 

ANONYMOUS. 



Of all the sciences, astronomy is by- 
far the most ancient ; because the objects 
of it attracted the first notice of mankind, 
who, when they lost the knowledge of God, 
worshipped the great luminaries of Heaven 
as the source of being, and the fountain of 
happiness. 



d3 



38 

Thus we read in that exquisite specimen 
of primitive poetry which distinguished the 
earliest age of genius, the book of Job, an 
allusion to this idolatry which prevailed in 
that period. " If I beheld the sun when 
it shined, or the moon walking in bright- 
ness ; and my heart hath been secretly en- 
ticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand ; 
this also were an iniquity to be punished 
by the Judge, for I should have denied 
the God that is above*" 

The wisest of the heathen nations fell 
into this error, and little doubt can be en- 
tertained, that the polytheism of them all, 
however varied and enlarged, had no other 
origin than the idea of divinity residing in 
the host of Heaven. 

To counteract this evil, and to shew that 
the heavenly bodies were all the work of 

* Chap. xxxi. 26, 28, 



39 

one supreme intelligence, the legislator and 
historian of the Hebrews, in his Cosmo- 
gony, dwells particularly upon the creation 
of the sun and moon, and their respective 
uses; after which he emphatically adds, 
that the same God "made the stars also/' 

This epitome of Creation, or six days' 
worksj with which our Scriptures open so 
beautifully, has always been admired, and 
esteemed a masterly analysis of Nature, in 
her incipient and elementary form ; though 
a celebrated French wit and libertine has 
exhausted all his stores of buffoonery, to 
disparage and revile it [c]. 

In that most ancient poem already 
quoted, the book of Job*, we find the 
following interrogatories : 



* Chap, xxxviii. v. 31, 32? 33. 

D 4 



40 

Canst thou bind the sweet influence of 
Pleiades? or loose the bands of Orion? 
Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his 
season ? or canst thou guide Arcturus with 
his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of 
Heaven? Canst thou set the dominion 
thereof in the earth? 

Such questions as these could originate 
only in an intimate acquaintance with 
astronomy, and they shew that the me- 
thod of dividing and arranging the ce- 
lestial bodies, was nearly the same in the 
time of Job as at present. These nume- 
rous and splendid globes appear to have 
been classed at a very early period under 
separate departments or constellations. The 
technical phraseology here used, demon- 
strates the maturity of the science to 
which it refers: and whatever amplifi- 
cation and improvement astronomy may 



41 

have acquired from subsequent discove- 
ries and industry, the precise mode of 
prosecuting the inquiries it suggests, and 
the identical terms appropriated in the ear- 
liest stage of the investigation, more or less 
prevail to this day. 

We boast, indeed, of various aids and 
instruments, of different sizes, and formed 
on different principles, for which, it must be 
owned, we are indebted to our own ingenuity 
in mechanics and philosophy. And who will 
venture to deny the eminent advantages of 
the superb and masterly apparatus, by 
which students of astronomy are now more 
especially enabled to pursue their observa- 
tions ? The efficiency and use of this op- 
tical machinery, brought so near to per- 
fection, and executed on the amplest scale, 
are universally allowed and evinced, by a 
wonderful accession of new and important 



42 

information, even in our time. But neither 
does it become us to deprive the fathers of 
this sublime and interesting science, and 
those venerable magi, who cultivated the 
first principles of it with so much ardour 
and success, of all assistance from the re- 
sources of art. It is not to be supposed 
that they made such a progress by the 
mere efforts of ordinary observation ; and 
of all the means invention could disclose, 
or dexterity apply, they would naturally, 
as we may well imagine, avail themselves. 
But who can tell the ground on which 
they took their views and made their ob- 
servations? or what devices and imple- 
ments of mensuration adopted by them, 
with other valuable and useful discoveries, 
may have been lost in the lapse of ages ? 

The forty-feet reflecting telescope of Dr. 
Herschel is said to magnify at least six 



43 



thousand times, which increases the visi- 
bility of the remotest bodies to an indefi- 
nite extent, and raises the eye as near the 
objects, perhaps, as possibly can be done*. 
This magnificent instrument, as delineated 
by him who contrived, constructed, and 
employs it, is an extraordinary monument 
of ingenuity, mechanism, and philosophy; 
and to the application of its powers in his 
celestial researches, we are certainly in- 
debted for a more correct and systematic 
arrangement and illustration of the hea- 
venly worlds, than has hitherto appeared 
from any former discoveries. 

Not to mention his ideas of our earth's 
motion, the double belt of Saturn, with his 
measurement of the mountains and vol- 
canoes in the moon, and his mode of gaug- 

* Philosophical Transactions; part ii. p. 347. 



44 

ing the heavens; he enlarges the bounda- 
ries of the solar system, by pointing out 
several bodies connected with it before un- 
known ; and his new theory of the hea- 
vens, of the sun's position in the galaxy, or 
milky-w ay ; of the fixed stars, and the in- 
definite number of systems into which they 
seem arranged ; of the amazing magnitude 
to which these numerous and enormous 
systems extend this great universe ; of 
their probable formation, and the shape 
they assume, by the progressive energies of 
gravitation and attraction; and the decomr 
position of individual worlds, by the pre- 
ponderance of others rushing to their re- 
spective centres, greatly improve the subli- 
mity of this interesting study, 

In developing the interior construction 
of the Heavens, all the powers of expression 
sink under the grandeur and magnificence 



45 

of the picture he sketches ! Inaumerable 
strata of radiant stars, sparkling in parallel 
rows, and lost in immensity, seem, from 
his account, to invest the universe like so 
many blazing zones ! and to whatever point 
of the spacious arch or cone which embo- 
soms our globe, our visual pow r ers are di- 
rected, we are dazzled and overwhelmed by 
a series of successive and endless splen- 
dours! But when he apprises us of new 
systems, continually forming by the plastic 
agency of gravitation, of the wreck to 
which inferior bodies are subjected, by the 
pressure of superior ones approaching their 
several destinations, and the shock occa- 
sioned by the junction or coalescence of 
single or insulated orbs ; we are content to 
admire his statement at a humble dis- 
tance, and only regret our incapacity to 
follow him*. In this great laboratory of 

* Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxxv. part i. 
p. 427. 



46 

Nature, however, as he elegantly terms 
it, we perceive more or less of the mighty 
process, and learn, that by the simple laws 
of the Newtonian philosophy, worlds are 
actually analysed, fabricated, and even pe- 
rish for the preservation of the whole. 

We presume not, however, in the follow- 
ing pages, to make very free with these 
lofty and profound speculations. They are 
by far too remote from the level of ordinary 
minds, and above the accustomed mode 
of thinking adopted by, and familiar to 
the majority of readers. Our reference to 
all celestial phenomena, regards whatever 
is brought forward, not as an article of 
science, but as an incentive to virtue ; and 
we omit nothing which falls occasionally in 
our way, calculated in any degree to raise 
the subject of our meditations from the 
magnificent scenery to which they refer, to 
swell our conceptions of the great Creator, 



47 

and to impress our hearts with the grandeur 
of his works ! Every thing we state, or re- 
mark, or infer from such data as may 
occur, which fails of this effect, is irrele- 
vant to our design. 

The least acquainted with the philosophy 
of the Heavens, must derive more or less 
instruction and improvement from the most 
superficial view that can be taken of them a 
We cannot even cast our eyes above us, or 
about us, without feeling our minds ex- 
panded with admiration, and our hearts 
warmed with devotion ! In an age of ig- 
norance and barbarism, the Heavens taught 
idolatry and superstition; but now that 
knowledge is more generally diffused, and 
men are better informed, they inspire only 
gratitude and piety, They borrow all their 
brightness from the great fountain of light 
and life, and expend it liberally for our use ; 

• 



48 

to teach us, that all our endowments are 
likewise bestowed for the benefit of others as 
well as our own. We learri from their invio- 
lable steadiness and order, the incalculable 
advantages of regularity in our conduct, and 
exactness in discharging the duties of life. 
Clouds may intercept their lustre, but can- 
not interrupt their tranquillity ; and the up- 
per regions are never more serene, than 
while the lower are convulsed with storms ! 
What a beautiful illustration of the Apostle's 
consolatory doctrine ! Now no chastening, 
for the present seemeth to be joyous but 
grievous: nevertheless afterwards it yield-* 
eth the peaceable fruit of righteousness** 
They affect no precedence but what is 
sanctioned by Nature; as the lighter are 
ever attracted and controuled by the weigh- 
tier masses; intimating to us, that they 
only are best entitled to rule, who are best 

* Hebrews, chap, xii. v. 11. 



49 

able to fulfil the ends of government, which 
is the welfare of the community; and that 
among members of society possessing un- 
equal parts, a perfect equality of condition 
is impracticable. Their obedience to the 
primary institutions of their Maker, is a 
standing condemnation of our habitual 
aberrations from the laws he prescribes, 
and the precepts he enjoins. Their beauty, 
which arises more particularly from their 
answering so perfectly their respective 
destinations, reproaches our moral defor- 
mity, their harmony our mutual dissen- 
tions, and their combined utility, our want 
of public as well as private worth. All 
this we actually find communicated through 
the medium even of sight, by celestial phe- 
nomena, with as much certainty and pre- 
cision, as every way-post directs a travel- 
ler on the common road, to know the good 
from the bad, and the right from the 

E 



30 

wrong; and a kinder office can hardly he 
done for mortals, than exciting and fix- 
ing their attention to this explicit, public, 
and persuasive directory. 

Under the direction of the Heavens, na- 
vigation has long been cherished and im- 
proved to an astonishing degree ! Through 
many a boisterous sea, and stormy night, 
the mariner has steered his course, by no 
other guide but his compass and the stars; 
and by the use made of them, in this little 
work, they become at once a source of 
amusement, and a chart of duty! The 
lischt of our days, and the ornament of our 
nights, are from the Heavens; and why 
may not they be also converted into mi- 
nisters of wisdom and worth, as well as of 
brilliancy and beauty? Their effulgence 
adorns our world, and ravishes our hearts 
with delight; and we would .draw from them 



51 

such information only as may make us wise 
unto salvation. They shed lustre and visi- 
bility on all about us, and are themselves 
the most visible of all ; and we would have 
them as useful to the soul as to the body, 
and as improving to the heart as they are 
pleasing to the sight. 



B2 



52 



THE ATMOSPHERE. 



Either tropic now 
'Gnu thunder, and both ends of Heaven ; the clouds 
From many a horrid rift abortive pour'd 
Fierce rain with lightning mix'd, water with fire, 
In ruin reconcil'd 5 nor slept the winds 
Within their stony caves, but rush'd abroad 
From the four hinges of the world, and fell 
On the vex'd wilderness, whose tallest pines, 
Though rooted deep as high, and sturdiest oaks, 
Bow'd their stiff necks, loaden with stormy blasts 
Or torn up shew. 

MILTON. 



After ail the experiments and dis- 
coveries made in natural history and phi- 
losophy, we still know as little about the 
extremities of the atmosphere as of the in- 
terior of our globe ! It is indeed but a short 
way into the one or the other we have yet 



53 

been able to penetrate. But the former, 
as a vital principle of existence, has excited 
very considerable attention in all ages. And 
the more it has been examined, the livelier 
and stronger is the interest we feel in its 
nature and influence [/']. 

With this volatile elastic fluid our whole 
earth is compassed as with a garment. But 
how far beyond its surface, or above the 
level of the ocean, this wonderful fluid may 
extend, is uncertain. Vapours of all kinds 
continually ascending from the terraqueous 
mass of mixed materials which it sur- 
rounds, habitually affect its temperature. 
And of this we are inevitably sensible, as far 
at least as being placed within the sphere 
of its action. But whether it has any col- 
lision with the adjacent orbs, or their re- 
spective atmospheres, or what impression 
it may receive from those or other invisibly 
S3 



54 

bodies or causes in the upper regions, we 
have no correct or decisive means of intel- 
ligence. Innumerable phenomena which 
it frequently exhibits, would notwithstand- 
ing indicate some such occasional affection. 

Meteorological observations cannot be 
expected in a work appropriated chiefly to 
whatever appears most charming in nature 
and devotion. It were, notwithstanding, 
improper to omit altogether, the dissimilar 
sensations alternately excited in all who 
duly consider the stated revolutions of Na- 
ture, the regular successions of the sea- 
sons, and the very opposite extremes to 
which the elements in our uncertain cli- 
mate so constantly verge. 

Comparing autumn and spring with 
summer and winter, days of sunshine and 
gaiety with others gloomy, dreary, and dark, 



55 

by clouds, or fogs, or rain, and a series of 
fine, beautiful, and dry weather, with that 
which is cold, bleak, and rainy, who is 
not sensible of the difference ? 

The physical effect of this primary law 
in the temperature of our climate on the 
sensitive or animal system, it is not for me 
to investigate or ascertain. But may it 
not be one cause of that hardihood or per- 
severance so generally ascribed to the na- 
tives of our island ? And have we not 
good reason to be thankful for whatever 
contributes, however remotely, to our ro- 
bust make, our patient industry, our pre-\ 
ference of ancient custom, our independent 
spirit, and our sturdy virtue ? 

The melancholy, said by foreigners to 
tinge our habits and dispositions, is by 
some of them absurdly imputed to this 
e4 



56 

circumstance. We are sorely more liable 
to be oppressed by a dead and uniform, 
than by a lively atmosphere. It is diffi- 
cult, indeed, to say how far we may suffer 
or be affected by a dull interminable plain, 
which the face of a country every where 
presents, the vapours incessantly emitted 
from the surrounding marshes, or the air 
imperfectly circulated by the intervention 
pf woodlands, plantations, buildings, and 
overgrown hedges. But we evidently droop 
and languish as herbage on the lawn, the 
flower of the fields, or the foliage of the 
trees, under a series of uninterrupted 
drought, 

There is somewhat acrid in what we call 
an Italian sky, that accords with the vio- 
lence and acerbity which have long distin- 
guished the inhabitants of burning climates, 
It heightens the poignancy of their spices ? 



57 

brightens their colours into brilliancy, 
turns their metals into gold, ripens their 
gems into diamonds, while at the same time 
it stimulates the rage of their predatory ani- 
mals, and increases the influence of their 
deadliest vermin ! How well described are 
these noxious scenes by Goldsmith, in the 
following picture ! 

Far dirFrent there from all that charrrf d before, 

The various terrors of that horrid shore ; 

Those blazing suns that dart a downward ray, 

And fiercely shed intolerable day ; 

Those matted woods where birds forget to sing, 

But silent bats in drowsy clusters cling j 

Those pois'nous fields with rank luxuriance crownM, 

Where the dark scorpion gathers death around j 

Where at each step the stranger fears to wake 

The rattling terrors of the vengeful snake j 

Where couching tigers wait their hapless prey, 

And savage men more murd'rous still than they 

While oft in whirls the mad tornado flies, 

Mingling the ravag'd landscape with the skies : 

Far different these from ev'ry former scene, 

The cooling brook, the grassy-vested green, 

The breezy covert of the warbling grove, 

That only shelter'd thefts of harmless love, 



58 

Beside the constant vicissitude that per- 
vades the whole mass of material existence 
wherever man is stationed or society im- 
proves, art is at work. Who has not 
marked the alteration introduced by agri- 
culture, gardening and architecture ? How 
changed by these is the face of things ! In- 
stead of a desert behold a populous city, 
in which our busy race pursue their re- 
spective callings and professions in end- 
less and emulous diversity. For the wild 
formerly inhabited by the bittern and 
the raven, the asp and the adder, we 
have ample inclosures of arable grounds, 
fields in high cultivation, gardens gay 
with flowers, and orchards rich with 
fruit. 

Our culture of the earth allures around 
us all those birds which charm our ears 
and delight our hearts with their me- 



59 

lody. They derive provision from our in* 
dustry, and repay us with their songs. 
They clear our soil of insects; and by 
building in our shrubberies, they partake 
with us in all the advantages of our im- 
provements. 

This is not all. These local accommo- 
dations soften to a certain degree, the na- 
tural asperities of the atmosphere. The 
air nourishes the vegetables, and is nou- 
rished by them. How different is the waste 
inhospitable heath, from the warm fertile 
inclosure ! Here every thing thrives, and 
is healthy and vigorous. The wilderness, 
in the lofty style of antiquity, becomes glad, 
and the desert rejoices, and blossoms as the 
rose. The beautiful prophecy, that every 
valley shall he exalted, and every moun- 
tain and hill shall be made low, and the 
crooked shall be made straight, and the 



60 

rough places plain, is thus literally accom- 
plished. 

Full often have we contemplated and 
felt the universe in its frigid and torpid 
state, without heat, or life, or comfort. 
The fields, the trees, the forests, the mea- 
dows, the heaths, the hills, and the vallies, 
places of the highest cultivation, best con- 
dition, and greatest shelter ; lawns, plea- 
sure-grounds, gardens, nurseries, shrubbe- 
ries, and plantations, all pillaged of their 
richest foliage and stript of their sweetest 
mantle ! 

But how soon, and how wonderfully, 
does all the luxury of Nature revive and 
rise again into being, and how still more 
rapid is her progress to maturity ! 



And what shall we say of the pleasing 



61 

and transporting variety she introduces 
every where to our attention and admira- 
tion ? Surely no language can express it 
better, with greater brevity, or more hap- 
pily describe the pious effect it ought to 
produce, and keep up on our imaginations 
and hearts, than that of the Psalmist: 
Thou renewest the face of the earth*. 

" All this enchanting and delicious gloss 
" of novelty and variety in substance^ 
" shape, and colour, so charming and 
" beautiful from its contrast with the 
" frightful and desolating scene which 
" preceded, can only come from thee* 
" who art the Father, the Spirit, and 

the comfort of every living thing. Sweet 
4i and useful, both for health and com- 
4; fort, are the frequent interchanges of 



* Psalm, civ. SO. 



62 

u wet and dry, cold and heat/ frost and 
" thaw, clouds and sunshine ! and thank- 
" fully ought we to acknowledge the source 
w of all this bountiful and unwearied ac- 
" commodation ! Wherever we are, thou 
" art ministering to our pleasures, grati- 
" fying our senses, soothing our feelings, 
" and ravishing our hearts, with a pro- 
46 fusion of goodness and mercy! The 
u warmth which cherishes, the light which 
" cheers, the strength which upholds, 
" the food which nourishes, the drink 
" which revives, and the sleep which re* 
" stores our frail enfeebled powers, are all 
" from thee! tokens of thy bounty, and 
11 proofs of our constant dependence on 
* 4 thy care. And we owe thee our sin* 
" cerest gratitude for these gracious sym* 
t6 boh of thy indulgence; for the many 
u prospects which impress and captivate 
our hearts; and especially for all our 



63 

" senses and faculties, which enable us to 
*■* relish and enjoy them." 

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts 

My daily thanks employ ; 
Nor is the least a cheerful heart, 

That tastes those gifts with joy. 

ADDISON, 

It is through this commodious medium 
that we imbibe the balmy breath of Hea- 
ven, that we experience the friendly au- 
spices of the higher regions; that winds 
blow, rains fall, and dews distil ; that we 
enjoy the salubrious fragrance of the 
morning, and that the shadows of the 
evening, like a pavilion of safety and re- 
pose, are dropt around us! By means 
of this circumambient fluid, the horrors 
of our nights are dispelled by the placid 
and softening effulgence of the moon; 
and the luminous matter constantly afloat 
in the Heavens, occasionally radiates our 



64 

hemisphere with the united transparency 
of all those ethereal lamps which bespangle 
the vaulted sky. From this we receive the 
capacity by which our lungs play, our 
pulse beats, our blood circulates, and all 
the fine, minute, and master springs in the 
animal machine, are impelled and kept 
alive ! 

How highly do the meanest and most 
trifling of our manifold mercies rise — rise 
in our partial and false estimation — while 
those of the last importance are over- 
looked! We analyze the whole surface of 
the globe for a favourite plant, or a plant 
valuable only for its scarceness! And is 
not all Nature eagerly ransacked, to gra- 
tify the palate, the eye, and the ear, while 
those inestimable objects on which even 
life and all its blessings and enjoyments 
absolutely depend, are seldom considered 



65 

with sufficient interest, or recollected 
with due sensibility? Yet we cannot 
open our lips, or cast our eyes about us, 
emit a breath, or move a step, with- 
out having our hearts impressed with 
a deep conviction of his goodness, who 
hath graciously provided such ample and 
well adapted means for our respiration! 
Whatever is sweet to the taste, or pleas- 
ing to the sight, or agreeable to any of 
our senses, in the Heavens above, or on the 
earth beneath, we enjoy by the exercise 
of those organs, which owe their effi- 
ciency, under God, entirely to the at- 
mosphere. It dispenses health by its pu- 
rity ; it braces our nerves by its energy ; it 
animates and invigorates our spirits by its 
soft and cheering influence; and it revives 
and rouses all the dormant and latent 
springs in our constitution, by its freshness 
&nd elasticity. 



66 

So useful is this primary vital principle, 
both to the mind and body ! The ways in 
which it contributes to all our powers and 
enjoyments, are numberless and various. 
And is not the Author of an accommoda- 
tion thus necessary and appropriate, emi- 
nently entitled to our devoutest homage 
and acknowledgments? Ought not every 
organ we possess, every faculty we enjoy, 
all we can excite without, arid every thing 
within us, be stirred up to praise his holy 
name, for blessing us thus abundantly, by 
infusing into his creatures this breath of 
life ? Hereby we live and move, and have 
our being ; and it is of the divine mercy we 
are not consumed by the very means of 
life ; that the air we respire is not malig- 
nant, but salubrious ; that we have organs 
so well adapted for its reception; that they 
are often kept in repair amidst debility and 
corruption ; and that the vapour in which 



67 

we are wrapped as in a mantle of velvet, is 
not a magazine of disease and death, but 
of comfort and life. 

How manifold are thy works, Lord! 
in wisdom hast thou made them all! 



r 2 



68 



CLOUDS. 



O Thou, whose hands the bolted thunder form, 

Whose wings the whirlwind, and whose breath the storm : 

Tremendous God ! this wond'ring bosom raise, 

And warm each thought that would attempt thy praise. 

O ! while I mount along th' etherial way 

To softer regions and unclouded day, 

Pass the long tracks where darting lightnings glow, 

Or trembling view the boiling deeps below ; 

Lead thro' the dubious maze, direct the whole, 

Lend heavenly aid to my transported soul. 



cause, by which all the parts, great and 
minute, are kept in order, are directed to 



OGILVIE. 




69 

their proper purposes, and rendered sub- 
servient to the preservation of the whole 
system. From thence revelation fetches 
many of its aptest similitudes and most 
sublime elucidations. 

If Nature simply makes a confession 
of divine power and wisdom in her 
origin and preservation; the word of 
God sanctifies all her works, and turns 
them into preachers of righteousness. 

The humble ant, which crawls in the 
dust, and, guided by instinct, provides for 
her future support, teaches Man the lesson 
of practical prudence in all that concerns 
his temporal and eternal welfare. Notwith- 
standing his elevated rank in the Creation, 
and the enlarged and variegated powers 
with which he is endowed, Inspiration 
sends him for instruction in the first 



70 

principles of human wisdom to the 
meanest of insects. 

From contemplating the economy and 
pursuits of animated Nature, his mind is 
then raised to survey the wonders which 
are scattered in rich and abundant variety 
above him. It is the continuation of the 
same lesson of wisdom; and the whole is 
designed to render man humble and vigi- 
lant, steady and prudent in all the con- 
cerns of human life, yet aspiring to higher 
scenes, and seeking an inheritance beyond 
the skies. 

No objects are more striking, though 
none are more familiar, than Clouds. 
They are continually varying their appear- 
ances, and frequently indicate the grandest 
and most terrible effects in the atmos-* 
phere. 



71 

Now they are beheld with a calm and 
pleasing eye, which follows them in their 
wanderings and changes, delighted at the 
effects produced thereby on the landscape 
beneath, and with the soft tint diffused 
over all the cerulean arch above. 

But how soon does the mind collect 
its powers into an awful contemplation of 
the blackened hemisphere; and behold 
with fearful apprehension the portentous 
elements gathering together, as it were, 
in battle-array, and, in the language of 
our great epic poet, 

With heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on, 

then stand front to front, 
Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow 
To-join their dark encounter in mid-air. 

PARADISE LOST, B. ii, 714. 

Of all the objects in the Creation, none 
surely supply such a grand Vcinety of 
?4 



72 

imagery for poetical description as the 
Clouds; whence we find the father of 
song often comparing the exploits and 
characters of his heroes to the nature and 
actions of the elements. Thus in the soft 
and gentle display of easy dignity, he 
describes his favourite Greeks as waiting 
for their foes with the steady calmness of 
the clouds hanging on the summit of a 
lofty mountain. In another place he 
draws a different picture, and to represent 
the fierce preparation for war, and its 
effects, he compares it to an approaching 
thunder storm, which drives the shepherd 
and his flock for shelter into a cave. 

This last use of the similitude has been 
happily adopted and improved by the 
Mantuan bard. 



73 

As when some tempest o'er mid ocean roars, 
And, wing'd with whirlwinds, gathers to the shores; 
With boding hearts the peasants hear from far 
The sullen murmurs of the distant war 5 
Foresee the harvest levell'd to the ground, 
And all the forest spread in ruins round : 
Swift to the land the hollow grumbling wind 
Flies, and proclaims the furious storm behind*. 

pitt's virgil. 

But how feeble and contracted is all 
the beauty and elevation of poetical de- 
scription, when compared to the sublimity 
contained in the scriptural adaptation of 
the same imagery ! If we admire the art 
with which Homer resembles his heroes 
to a tranquil cloud, what shall be said of 
that description which figures to us the 

* Qualis ubi ad terras abrupto sidere nimbus 
It mare per medium ; miseris heu, prsescia longe 
Horrescunt corda agricolis j dabit ille ruinas 
Arboribus, stragemque satis 5 met omnia late ; 
Ante volant, sonitumque fenmt ad littora venti. 



74 

Omnipotent " as covering himself with 
light as with a garment; and as stretching 
out the whole expanse of the Heavens for 
the curtain of his pavilion: who layeth 
the beams of his chambers in the wa- 
ters; who maketh the clouds his cha- 
riot; and walketh upon the wings of the 
wind*?" 

Here, indeed, the idea of security and 
dominion is expanded to the utmost stretch 
of human comprehension. The Almighty 
is introduced not merely as " ruling the 
whirlwind and guiding the storm/' but 
as actually walking with a sober and ma- 
jestic step upon the wings of the wind. 

When we behold the clouds of Heaven 
flying rapidly before a mighty tempest, 
we may endeavour to catch the force of 

* Ps. civ. 2, 3. 



75 

the magnificent and tremendous idea con- 
veyed in the words of the Psalmist. And 
yet the page of inspiration goes far beyond 
even this exquisite painting; and collecting 
all the variety of celestial phenomena 
together, embodies them into an obe- 
dient train round about the throne of 
God : " A fire goeth forth before him, 
and burnetii up his enemies round about. 
His lightnings enlightened the world : the 
earth saw and trembled. The hills melted 
like wax at the presence of the Lord : at 
the presence of the Lord of the whole 
earth*." 

In the prophetic style of exhibiting the 
divine judgments upon sinful nations, the 
same images are generally used, but with 
a heightened effect, as well to mark the 
certainty of the event predicted, as to 



* Ps.xcvii. 3—5. 



76 

impress upon the mind a deep sense of the 
absolute power and justice of God. Thus 
in the prophecy of Nahum, the divine 
majesty is delineated riding in the gloomy 
combustion of the elements, as figurative 
of his dominion over all nations, and of 
the equity of his proceedings in convert- 
ing all natural and moral evil to the pu- 
nishment of the wicked and the happiness 
of the righteous. " The Lord hath his 
way in the whirlwind and in I he storm, 
and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 
The mountains quake at him, and the 
hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his 
presence ; yea, the world and all that dwell 
therein. Who can stand before his indig- 
nation? and who can abide in the fierce- 
ness of his anger ? his fury is poured out 
like fire, and the rocks are thrown down 
by him*." 



* Chap. i. 3—6. 



77 

This picture of a tempestuous scene 
displays all that is terrible in Nature, the 
conflict of electric clouds above pouring 
forth livid sheets of fire, and the loftiest 
mountains on earth sinking away into no- 
thing at the mere touch of the destructive 
element. 

Thus does the language of inspiration 
represent to us, under the most terrific 
phenomena in the Creation, the agency of 
the Almighty in the moral world, and the 
faithfulness of his judgments upon the 
sons of pride and impiety. 

" Though he is slow to anger, he is 
great in power and exact in justice," and 
the very blessings which he bestows will 
be turned at last, if they continue to be 
abused, into the instruments of his ven- 
geance, 



78 

What, for instance, can be more salubri- 
ous than the clouds of Heaven ? How light 
and beautiful in their formation, how gentle 
in their influence, and how beneficial in 
their effects! In the philosophical lan- 
guage of Elihn, "behold God is great; 
he maketh small the drops of water : they 
pour down rain according to the vapour 
thereof; which the clouds do drop and 
distil upon man abundantly 

And yet should the fluid body which 
surrounds our globe become contaminated 
with principles foreign to its natural sim- 
plicity, the over-charged clouds will burst 
with violence, and spread horror and de- 
vastation around. But it is from these 
agitations that the elementary mass regains 
its purity, administers to the health of 
man, and restores life and beauty to the 



* Job, xxxvi. 27, 28. 



79 

Creation. Similar is it with the moral world : 
evil principles and corrupt manners poison 
the mind, and spread through all classes 
of society. Ambition and avarice destroy 
every sentiment of moderation, justice and 
content. Religion, the great spring of 
action, and the regulator of life, becomes 
suspended; and the conflict of licentious 
passions produces disorders, contentions 
and revolutions. 

Scripture describes the changes which 
eccur in the moral system of the world, by 
images drawn from the corruptions of Na- 
ture. Thus an apostle writing against the 
deceivers in his time, who despised dominion, 
and spake evil of dignities, compares them to 
46 clouds without water carried ^bout of 
winds ; trees whose fruit withereth without 
fruit; twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 
raging waves of the sea foaming out their own 



80 

shame; wandering stars to whom is re- 
served the blackness of darkness for ever*/* 

No metaphors could more aptly figure 
the lewd practices and impious blasphe- 
mies of the ambitious and turbulent men, 
against whom the primitive church was 
cautioned, than those which the sacred 
writer has here adopted. 

Vain and pompous in their appearance ; 
arrogant in their assumptions, and specious 
in their pretensions; these boasters were 
mere hypocrites, void of good themselves 
and the perverters of others. 

When such men gain an ascend ancy, 
and their pernicious principles produce a 
total indifference to religious truth, and 
virtuous practice ; though all may seem 



* Jude, v. 12, 1 3. 



quiet and serene around; the stillness is 
portentous, and this moral lethargy is the 
sure sign of dissolution. 

Out of such a state men are awakened 
by the terrors of the Almighty; and the 
poisoned atmosphere produces those terri- 
ble convulsions which shake the mightiest 
empires and the best compacted systems 
to their foundations, so that scarcely a ves- 
tige of them remains; 

Yet even in all this work of desolation, 
the wisdom and mercy of God are appa- 
fent, to " thenl who trust in him." Like 
the prophet in the mount, they can behold 

unmoved the crash of elements and the 
convulsions of Nature; the tempest which 
rends the mountains, and breaks in pieces 
the hardest rocks; the earthquake that 
roots up the hills, and the fire of Heaven 



82 

which consumes instantaneously the lofty 
and spacious forests*. 

In the midst of the elemental war they 
perceive the hand of God directing the 
whole for universal good, and they hear 
"'his still small voice" encouraging them 
to abide in a confident trust of his mercy 
till the indignation be overpast-)-." 

Such a state of contemplative serenity 
may be happily imagined from an account 
related by a very scientific traveller. Don 
Ulloa, when in Peru for the purpose of 

measuring a degree of the meridian, was 
stationed for some time on the summit of 
Cotopaxi, a mountain three miles above 
the level of the sea. " The sky," says he, 
" was generally obscured with thick fogs ; 
but when these were dispersed, and the 

* 1 Kings, xix. 13 ? 12. t Isaiah, xxvi. 20. 



83 

clouds moved, by their gravity, nearef 
the surface of the earth, they surrounded 
the mountains to a vast distance, repre- 
senting the sea, with our rock, like an 
island in the centre of it. When this hap- 
pened, we heard the horrid noises of the 
tempests, which discharged themselves on 
Quito, and the neighbouring countries. 
We saw the lightnings issue from the 
clouds, and heard the thunders roll far be- 
neath us. And, whilst the lower regions 
were involved in tempests of thunder and 
rain, we enjoyed a delightful serenity. 
The wind w T as hushed, the sky clear, and 
the enlivening rays of the sun moderated 
the severity of the cold/' 

What a sublime scene for contemplation 
is this to the philosophical observer ; and 
How little for the moment do the most 
formidable phenomena of Nature appear 

G % 



84 

in the midst of the vast expanse around 
him ! He looks down with a calm and 
Steady eye upon the rolling tempest lash- 
ing the surges of the ocean into mountain- 
ous heaps, and tearing up the pride of the 
forest by the roots. 

The pealing thunder which shakes the 
loftiest edifices and appals the stoutest 
hearts, seems to him only as the distant 
sound of artillery; and the flashes of vivid 
lightning that rift the very rocks in sun- 
der, are but like the sportive fireworks 
exhibited on a night of rejoicing. 

In like manner the mind, raised above 
the world, and seated in the bosom of Re* 
Jigion, enjoys the tranquillity of a pure 
and an unruffled atmosphere, while the 
rest of mankind are agitated by the storms 
of passion, and perplexed by the conten- 
tions and fall of nations. 



85 

Amidst the wild uproar and the fearful 
expectations which prevail below, the soul 
that is elevated above the earth, and freed 
from the corrupting influence of its cares 
and follies, looks down with pity upon the 
miseries which it cannot prevent, at the 
same time adoring Providence, for produc- 
ing general good by means which super- 
ficial observers presumptuously censure as 
unwise and unjust. 

It is the happy privilege of Religion, 
to turn distresses into blessings, and to 
$raw from the storms and tempests of life, 
matter of instruction and comfort. If the 
men of the world are dismayed at public 
calamity, or are despairing under the pres- 
sure of personal affliction, the Christian 
can make the language of the prophet his 
own : " I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy 
in the God of my salvation* or, according 

* Hab. iii. 8. 
G 3 



86 



to the paraphrase of an ingenious and 
pious writer : 

When o'er the earth Thou wav'st the avenging rod, 
When Nature trembles at an angry God ; 
When the bold breast, with terror not its own, 
Shakes at thy voice, and withers at thy frown ; 
Then by no storms dismay' d, no fears deprest, 
In Thee my soul shall find eternal rest ; 
O'er me secure thy hov'ring wings shall spread, 
And sleep's mild opiate bless my peaceful bed. 

OGILVIE. 

But the agitations of Nature, as well as 
the visitations of Providence, are the ne- 
cessary parts of an organized and benevo- 
lent plan. However violent and destruc- 
tive such judgments may be for the time, 
they are calculated to remove greater dis- 
orders, and by a strong operation to carry 
off corruptions which by accumulation 
would produce pestilence and death. 

In all cases we are taught to admire 
that wisdom and goodness which makes 



87 

even evil correct itself, and after raging for 
a period with the utmost violence, become 
gentle and salutary to mankind. 

The atmosphere appears more beautiful 
after a tremendous storm, and the clouds 
which were then charged with fury, and 
raged with terror, are now carried away 
by every gentle zephyr, and drop fatness 
where before they menaced destruction. 

Thus the economy of Nature is conti- 
nually preserved, and the general order and 
good of the system maintained, amidst the 
endless variety of weather and of seasons. 

Nor is the regularity less in the govern- 
ment and preservation of the Church of 
God. Storms and persecutions have raged 
against it from the very beginning ; but these 
visitations only served to strengthen the 
G 4 



88 

principles of truth, to root them deeper in 
the soil, and to spread forth the branches 
with a more luxuriant foliage. 

When the first promulgators of the gos- 
pel were " scattered abroad" by the san- 
guinary decrees of the enemies of their 
religion, they only gave it a wider circula- 
tion, and thus what w T as. intended to de- 
stroy, proved the means of making Chris- 
tianity more generally known and believed. 

Upon this subject, a very judicious ex- 
positor hath made the same observation 
and comparison. Speaking of the disper- 
sion of the early disciples, he has this 
note : " In mercy, therefore, to the 
churches, and even to themselves, whose 
truest happiness was connected with their 
usefulness, were they, like so many clouds 
of Heaven, driven different ways by thp 



89 

wind of persecution, that so they might 
empty themselves in fruitful showers on 
the several tracts of land through which 
they went preaching the gospel*/' 

Then was eminently fulfilled that pro-* 
phecy of Isaiah ; " The wilderness and 
the solitary place shall be glad for them ; 
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom 
as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, 
and rejoice even with joy and singing ; the 
glory of Lebanon shall be given unto thee, 
the excellency of Carniel and Sharon; they 
shall see the glory of the Lord, and the 
excellency of our God-]-." 

The Clouds exhibit a very remarkable 
phenomenon, which the Almighty has 
adopted as a sacramental or covenant sign 
with man, never more to destroy this 
globe by a watery deluge. 



* Doddridge 3 on Acts, viii. 4. t Is. xxsi. 1, 2, 



90 

When the earth was renewed after the 
flood, a promise was made to the patriarch 
who then stood the representative of all 
future generations, that the globe should 
ever remain safe from a similar destruc- 
tion. As a perpetual remembrance of the 
judgment and the promise, God said; 
" I do set my bow in the cloud, and it 
shall be for a token of a covenant between 
me and the earth. And it shall come to 
pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, 
that the bow shall be seen in the cloud : 
and I will remember my covenant which 
is between me and you and every living 
creature of all flesh ; and the waters shall 
no more become a flood to destroy all 
flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; 
and I will look upon it, that I may remem- 
ber the everlasting covenant between God 
and every living creature of all flesh that 
is upon the earth 

* Gen. ix. 13 — 16, 



91 

Some superficial sceptics have raised an 
objection to the Mosaic History, by say- 
ing that if there was rain before the flood, 
there necessarily must have been such a 
bow as is here stated to have been first 
exhibited to Noah. But the original 
warrants no such conclusion, neither is it 
liable to any such charge. What our 
translation rather ambiguously renders ' I 
do set/ should be, according to a more 
correct version, c I have set my bow in the 
cloud ; by which reading this futile objec- 
tion vanishes at once, 

The reference, however, to such a grand, 
beautiful, and even solemn phenomenon, 
was, in the situation wherein the first 
planters of the new world then stood, 
most appropriate and impressive. It 
amounted as much as to this : " Behold 
that variegated and magnificent arch., 



92 

touching the extremities of the horizon* 
and reaching to the zenith ; see it as it were 
embracing the whole range of your new 
habitation ; and erected as a trophy of my 
power, dominion and justice over a sinful 
world ; behold it also as the covenant of 
my mercy, in saving you from the devour- 
ing flood ; and transmit to your posterity 
the remembrance of this stupendous event, 
and the assurance of my grace and loving- 
kindness to man." 

When, therefore, we contemplate this 
glorious spectacle in the concave of Hea- 
ven, let it be accompanied with a grateful 
and devout affection of heart to our great 
Creator and Redeemer ; who in the midst 
of judgment remembers mercy, and in all 
the varieties of life gives peace, security 
and comfort, to those who put their trust 
jn him. 



He hath engaged to preserve them as 
he did those in the ark of old, and though 
6 they may be afflicted and tossed with 
tempest' on the contending billows of a 
distracted and afflicted world, yet while 
they continue in obedience to his will and 
word, they shall be safe from every cala- 
mity. His promise is immutable, and 
the safety of his church is therefore im- 
movably secure. " As the rain cometh 
down, and the snow from Heaven, and 
returneth not thither, but watereth the 
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, 
that it may give seed to the sower and 
bread to the eater, so shall my word be 
that goeth forth out of my mouth; it 
shall not return unto me void ; but it. 
shall accomplish that which I please, and 
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I 
sent it*/' 



* Isaiah, lv. 10, 11. 



94 

Hereby we have an assurance that every 
promise and prophecy contained in the 
sacred code, shall as certainly receive a 
complete accomplishment, as the elements 
discharge their regular duties. As the 
earth is replenished and rendered fruitful 
by the continual action of the air and the 
distillation of the clouds, so the moral 
world is regulated by an unerring Provi- 
dence, and all its mutations are subser- 
vient to a predisposed plan of universal 
good. 

This truth is admirably though simply 
expressed, in the following stanzas of a 
?ery old English poet : 

The raynbowe bending in the skye^ 

Bedeckte with sundry hewes 
Is lyke the seate of God on hye 

And seemes to tell these newes : 
That as thereby he promised 

To drowne the worlde no more, 



So by the bloud which Christ hath shed 

He will our health restore. 
The mistie clowdes that fall sometyme, 

And overcaste the skyes, 
Are lyke to troubles of our tyme, 

Which doe but dim our eyes : 
But as such dewes are dryed up quite 

When Phoebus shewes his face, 
So are such fansies put to flighte 

When God doth guide by grace. 

GEORGE GASCOTGNE'S GOOD-MORROW*, 
written about the year 1570* 



LIGHT. 



Light— "from whose rays all beauty springs. 
Darkness — whose wide expanded wings, 

Involves the dusky globe ; 
Praise Him who, when the Heavens he spreadi 
l)arkness his thick pavilion made, 

And light his regal robe. 

MERRICK. 



Th e primary object of vision is light* 
and this the Heavens dispense with libe- 
rality; so that nothing in this great Creation, 
impressed as it every where is, with mira- 
cles of wisdom and excellence, is more 
beautiful and marvellous ! Light is the 
elder offspring of Deity, the master-piece 
of his material works, and the original 
communication of himself when he opened 
to them the treasures of his bounty ! 



m 

Li°*ht was the commencement of our 

o 

world, and it continues to be the soul of 
every beauty which it contains. It is the^ 
great medium by which the charms of all 
things are made visible, and without which 
nothing could appear, or probably exist. 

From this inexhaustible store-house, 
Nature derives all her colouring and lus- 
tre, the rainbow its tints, the landscape 
its beauties, and every feature in that glo- 
rious picture of divinity so legibly impressed 
on the whole Creation, its brilliancy and 
sweetness. 

All creatures, animate and inanimate^ 
seem to vie, in return, with each other, by 
heightening, as by common consent, the 
blessing of light. 

The birds warble their salutations on its 



98 

daily appearance, and greet its faintest rays 
by their liveliest strains. The flowers and 
vegetable tribes in all their orders, revive 
at its approach, and at the opening of the 
day they expand their leaves to welcome 
with silent, but grateful sensations, its au- 
spicious return. 

Its nature and • qualities are above admi- 
ration, and elude research. All the schools 
of philosophy are still at a loss to investi- 
gate its origin, to define its substance, or 
to ascertain exactly its influence. The 
velocity of its motion, the subtilty of its 
essence, the extent of its circuit, the glo- 
ries of its lustre, and its universal utility, 
have frequently engaged, and yet con- 
founded, the acutest faculties of the bright- 
est minds. 



We perceive no beauty or excellence in 



99 

the most elegant objects, even by the help 
of the clearest optics, and through the 
purest medium, without light. In its ab- 
sence all Nature is black and cheerless. 
Bv means of this glorious and celestial fluid, 
which wraps the universe as in a luminous 
mantle, and makes all things assume ail 
aspect of comeliness and gaiety, organiza- 
tion and vitality are every where diffused 
over the surface of the globe : hereby we 
contemplate the majesty of the Heavens, 
and are charmed with the beauties of the 
earth. Independent of the magnificent 
objects and captivating scenes which it thus 
presents in so much lustre, we find our 
whole frame instinctively affected, our spirits 
enlivened, our hearts gladdened, and out 
minds sensibly raised and gratified in its 
presence. 

No wonder that light is so frequently 
h2 



100 

used by the sacred oracles, as the symbol 
of our best blessings. Of the Gospel-reve- 
lation one apostle says, The night is far 
spe?it, and the day is at hand. Another, 
under the impression of the same auspicious 
event, thus applies the language of ancient 
prophecy : The people who sat in darkness 
have seen a great light ; and to them which 
sat in the region and shadow of death light 
is sprung up. 

All things, indeed, under an evangelical 
dispensation, are brought home to our affec- 
tions by means of this charming similitude : 
God himself, as the Creator and fountain 
of all being and perfection, is styled the 
Father of fights ; and our Saviour is called 
the light of the world; because he hath 
dissipated by his gospel the moral darkness 
which was spread out over all the human 
faculties after the fall; and hath brought 



101 

life and immortality to light. The know- 
ledge of the truth is also called i he light of 
life ; the renewing our nature, a turning 
from darkness to light ; the graces of the 
Christian life are denominated the works of 
light, and the heavenlyjoys, the inheritance 
of the Saints in light. 

We are all naturally ambitious to shine 
in the world. It is the foible of our race, 
from which the wise and the old are, per- 
haps, as little exempted as the silly and the 
young. But the fault lies, not in the passion 
itself, but in mistaking the sphere, and 
choosing improper objects. 

Many are prcud to shine in the lustre of 
pomp, the elegance of dress, or the splen- 
dour of equipage ; others again are ambiti- 
ous of the voice of fame, or the acquisition 
of power. And a long list of those who 

Ji3 



KB 

take the lead in the heraldry of the world 5 
have lived and died for no higher or better 
end, than to make a figure among the great 
and renowned. 

To such as act by the opinion of the 
world alone, fashion is above all laws hu- 
man and divine. They study nothing but 
appearance, This object absorbs every 
appetite, passion, principle, and duty. Let 
them make a vain show, and it matters not 
how much they disquiet themselves or 
others ; neither care they by what means 
their eminence is acquired or secured. 

In religion alone we are taught from 
what principle, in what manner, and by 
what means to shine in the world. It for- 
bids no necessary quality, nor proscribes 
any becoming ornament, which may accord 
witli innocence and decency. But it points 



103 

out something higher and nobler, as the 
object of our immortal nature, and in the 
enjoyment of which the human soul only 
can find rest. The eye is not satisfied with 
seeing, nor the ear with hearing, but when 
we shine in the sight of God, and enjoy his 
approbation, or, in the language of Holy 
Writ, walk in the tight of his countenance. 
Most objects of ambition are beyond the 
grasp of by far the greater part of men, 
but this is within the reach of all. Nor 
does any person exist, of so mean a capacity, 
of so contracted an education, in ever so 
obscure a condition, or under such a cloud 
of distress, as that he may not shine accep- 
tably before Him whose eyes are in every 
place, beholding the evil and the good. 

This elegant metaphor of light, the Holy 
Spirit happily adopts for conveying to our 
niinds some faint idea of those glorious pri- 
ll 4 



104 

vileges we enjoy by his grace, mediation, 
and ministry, who is the light of truth, the 
light of the world, and the light of life. In 
this light only can we see and be seen as we 
pught, to our own satisfaction or the satis- 
faction of those about us ! There is no other 
-medium by which we can know and be 
known, which points out the strait way 
that leadeth unto eternal life; and which 
gives a view of the land afar off, notwith- 
standing the clouds that sometimes inter- 
vene, to exercise us in our Christian life, 
and freshen the graces which might decay 
and fade by the effulgence of light. 

Here faith, which is the substance of 
things not seen, discovers the glory that in 
due time shall be revealed ; hope penetrates 
within the veil of eternity, anticipating the 
fulness of joy, and all those pleasures which 
are at God's right hand forevermore ; 



105 

while love or charity, enhanced by all the 
guffe rings incident to our present frail and 
mortal condition, with patience on one hand 
and expectation on the other, like the rising 
light , shi?ieth more and more unto the per- 
fect day. 

This light, which renders the highway 
to heaven and immortality so luminous, safe, 
and delightful, enlightens the whole path 
of duty with its clearest beams, and never 
leaves the well-meaning mind at a loss how 
to act, when Nature dictates, religion di- 
rects, and God commands. 



Christians are never perplexed in their 
minds, or a prey to gloomy apprehensions, 
but in proportion as this light is more or 
less absent. It is only when we are sted- 
fastly intent in the observation of our course 
under the clear influence of religious truth, 



106 

and when in this light we see perfectly every 
thing about us, being fully aware of our 
situation in all its circumstances and bear- 
ings, that the outward conduct and inward 
state of mind can be correct and satisfac- 
tory. Such is the information, afforded 
by the Gospel, which teacheth in perspi- 
cuous language whatever appertaineth to 
life and godliness ; and opens abundant re- 
sources for the supply of all our wants ; in 
every extremity directing us where to find 
redress, resolving whatever doubts may 
hang upon our minds, and giving full assu- 
rance that we can never err while we rely 
on God for the security of our souls, and 
follow the directions which he hath laid 
down in his word, to be a light unto our 
feet, and a lamp unto our paths. - 

Blessed then are they who walk as the 
children of the light and of the day ; whose 



107 

minds, like the crystal, exhibit a faithful 
view of the effects of religion ; and whose 
conduct demonstrates that the grace of God 
hath not shone upon them in vain. 

While the proud and ambitious, the 
wicked and licentious men of the world, 
however splendid may be their talents, for- 
midable their power, or extensive their in- 
fluence, sink away like the meteors of the 
night, they who are enlightened by divine 
wisdom, shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they who turn many to 
righteousness as the stars for ever and 
pver*" 

The subtilty and activity of light far ex- 
ceeds all human comprehension. Its effects 
upon animal bodies are seen in the various 
tinges they assume, according to the nature 



* Dan. xii. 3. 



103 

of the light to which they are exposed. 
Thus in high northern latitudes, animals, 
during the absence of the solar light, be- 
come white, and in proportion to the ac- 
tion of the light upon them, they are a 
darker colour. 

Nor is the influence of light less powerful 
upon the vegetable tribes. Every plant, in 
fact, may be denominated a heliotrope, 
though the term is confined only to such 
flowers as exhibit a striking direction towards 
the sun. But in the privation of light, it 
is well known that the leaves of vegetables 
lose their colour; and that they acquire 
again richer verdure, according to the de- 
gree of light to which they are exposed. 

The power or this active substance goes 
still farther than this ; it penetrates into the 
recesses of the earth, and acts upon the 



109 

fibrous roots of plants, and the suckers of 
trees : nor is it improbable but that its in- 
fluence contributes much to the beauty and 
lustre of gems and the ores of metals. 

The velocity of this body is no less sur- 
prising; for the solar rays, according to 
accurate observations made on the satellites 
of Jupiter, pass over a space equal to the 
distance between the sun and us, which is 
about eighty-one millions of miles, in seven 
minutes. 

Light does not combine with the atmo- 
sphere, nor with any other gas ; but it is 
altogether a distinct substance, operating 
upon all others, contributing to their beauty, 
and perhaps to their very texture and form, 
while it is incapable of being destroyed by 
them. 



110 

It is diffused throughout the whole uni- 
verse, and in continual exercise for the pre- 
servation of all bodies, yet never actually 
confined to any ; so that the questions in 
Job are as philosophical as they are ele- 
gantly poetical : " Where is the place where 
light dwelleth ? and as for darkness, where 
is the place thereof, that thou shouldest 
take it to the bound thereof, and that thou 
shouldest know the paths to the house 
thereof*?" 

This consideration of the independent 
existence of light, supplies a direct and 
most satisfactory answer to the objection 
so often repeated, against the truth of the 
Mosaic history, where the creation of light 
is made to precede that of the sun and 
other luminaries. 



* Job, xxxyiii. 19 3 20, 



Ill 

Passing over the various theories and 
conjectures which have been adopted to 
clear up this apparent difficulty, we have 
nothing farther to do than to adopt the 
discoveries of modern science, to prove that 
the sacred historian was perfectly correct, 
and philosophically accurate, in his relation. 
If the sun be nothing more than an opaque 
body surrounded by an atmosphere of light? 
as hath been clearly demonstrated by the 
observations of an exact astronomer*, it 
proves that the substance is distinct from 
the body which it envelopes. In fact, the 
light of the solar orb is only an immense 
collection of that fluid in a more active 
sphere, the particles of which are constantly 
driven from thence, and their places sup- 
plied by others : so that the substance is 
in continual motion, flying off through all 



* Dr. Herschel. 



112 

parts of the system, till after various courses 
and operations, it recedes to the central 
body, which propels it again with a new 
force. 

It is not to be supposed that the ante- 
solar light was a splendid effulgence or a 
strong diffusion of that body upon the in- 
fant earth. This would have been proba- 
bly injurious to the very purpose intended, 
which was, that the light might act for the 
purpose of separating the air from the 
water, and causing the " earth to bring 
forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the 
fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, whose 
seed is in itself*." 

Now the force of the solar rays might 
have been too intense for the tender state 



* Gen. i. 11. 



113 

of the vegetable system ; and therefore the 
earth was prepared for the uses designed, 
and all the subsequent processes of its 
parts, by the soft and invigorating influ- 
ence of the substance which afterwards be- 
came more active and powerful, when the 
sun was made the principal receptacle and 
agent of light for all the bodies within his 
sphere. Something similar to this appears 
to have been the opinion of our great poe- 
tical commentator, when he gave a descrip- 
tion of the Creation ? 

Let there be light ! said God, and forthwith light 
Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, 
Sprung from the deep j and from her native east, 
To journey the airy gloom began, 
Spher'd in a radiant cloud, for yet the Sun 
Was not : she in a cloudy tabernacle 
Sojourn'd the while, 

#ar. lost, b. vii. 243. 

Notwithstanding the continual action 
and recession of this substance, it has been 

i 



114 

most accurately ascertained, by a very pro- 
found mathematician *, that the sun does 
not lose above a thirteen thousandth part 
of his diameter in one hundred and thirty- 
five millions of years ; consequently the 
S3 7 stem would not be destroyed for myriads 
of ages, unless he who said, Let there be 
lights shall pronounce his fiat, that Time 
shall be no longer >f. 

The prodigious velocity of light, as well 
as its immense and various utility, renders 
it an apt emblem of the angelical orders 
which surround the throne of the Almighty, 
ever obedient to his will, and going forth 
with instantaneous readiness to execute his 
commands. 

The rapidity of the particles of light is- 



* Bishop Horsley, t Rev. x. 6. 



115 

suing from the orb of the sun, and darting 
with inconceivable swiftness to the extre- 
mity of the system, is nothing, compared 
to the activity and power of those celestial 
intelligencies who hold immediate commu- 
nion with the Father of Lights* even while 
they are in this lower sphere, ministering 
unto the heirs of salvation** 

But the inspired writers seem to have 
been particularly fond of this image, it re- 
presenting, as far as any thing in the Crea- 
tion can possibly represent, the purity of 
the Divine Essence : God is light : and 
in him is no darkness at dfflf* 

The salutary and enlivening effects of 
light upon the heavens and the earth, upon 
all substances in Nature, and upon every 

* Heb. i. 14. t Uobu, L§, 

I % 



116 

order of beings throughout the visible 
Creation, do certainly afford a lively illus- 
tration of the infinite knowledge, power, 
and goodness of God. 

All things are open to him, and not a 
single movement of the mind can escape 
liis observation; he upholdeth all things 
by the word of his power; and he doetk 
whatsoever he pleaseth in heaven and in 
earth, in the seas and all deep places, or 
in the abysses beneath, inhabited by the 
spirits of darkness*. 

Tlis eye penetrates through all the re- 
eesses of Nature, and examines the mo- 
tive of every action of man. TV hat a tre- 
mendous consideration is this; and how 
should it continually operate upon us, in 



Psalm exxxv. 6. 



117 

making us watchful over the thoughts of 
our hearts ! 

How can I do this great wickedness, 
and sin against God* ? said the illustrious 
Hebrew youth, in the moment of a dan- 
gerous temptation. His declaration was 
founded upon a conviction, that the Divine 
Presence was every where, and that no 
wickedness, however hidden it might be 
from human observation, could be con- 
cealed from the sight of Him who is infi- 
nite in wisdom, holiness, and justice. 

Nothing would so effectually contribute 
to our happiness, as the continual remem- 
brance of this most important truth, that 
the eyes of the Lord are in evert/ place , 
beholding the evil and the goodf. This 

* Gen. xxxix. 9. f Prov. xv. 3. 

i 3 



IIS 

would restrain us from many follies, pre* 
serve us stedfast in the midst of numerous 
temptations, and enable us to maintain a 
conscience void of offence both toxvards 
Gop and tozvards man*. 

Tq adopt the words^ of an excellent 
writer, " The actual, constant considera- 
tion of God's presence, would be the 
readiest way in the world to make sin tq 
cease from among the children of men, 
and for men to approach to the blessed 
estate of the Saints in heaven, who cannot 
sin, for they always walk in the presence, 
and behold the face, of GoD-f/' 

Upon this subject, how sublime and in* 
structive are the effusions of the Psalmist : 



* Acis, xxiv. 16. 

t Bishop Tajior's Holy Living, chap. i. § 3. 



119 

Whither shall I go from thy spirit ? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If 
I ascend up into heaven, thou art there ; 
if I make my bed in hell, thou art there ; 
if I take the wings o f the morning, and 
dzvell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 
even there shall thy hand lead me, and 
thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, 
surely the darkness shall cover me ; even 
the night shall be light about me. Yea, 
the darkness hideth not from thee, but the 
night shineth as the day : the darkness 
and the light are both alike to thee*. 

Now if material light be so glorious, 
and so extensively beneficial, how much 
greater must be the glory and value of a 
communion with the ineffable fountain of 
all truth ; and if light be essential to our 



* Psalm cxxxix. viv. 12. 
i 4 



120 

present convenience, and, indeed, to our 
very being in this world, how much more 
essential is divine light to our mental com- 
fort and to our spiritual existence, that we 
may do the works of Him that placed us in 
thk probationary state while it is day ; be- 
caim the night cometh, when no man can 
work*} 

May this marvellous and majestic light, 
in whose splendour all created luminaries 
are lost and extinguished, shine into our 
hearts, and give us the knowledge of God 
in the face of his Son, Jesus Christ! 
Happy they on whom it dawns immortal 
day : who anticipate by faith the fruition 
it impacts : who are even now admitted to 
a participation of its pleasures — pleasures 
which neither cloy nor diminish, and will 



* John, ix. 4. 



121 

never have an end ; but which shall survive 
not only our frail bodies, but sun, moon, 
and stars, and the glories of the universe ; 
which the shadows of death cannot cloud, 
which the gloom of the grave cannot 
darken ; but which are substantial as the 
throne of God, and bright as the visions 
of eternity 



122 



THE SUN, 



Along the skies the Si/n obliquely rolls, 

Forsakes, by turns, and visits both the poles, 

DifF'rent his track, but constant his career, 

Divides the times, and measures out the year. 

To climes returns where freezing winter reigns, 

Unbinds the glebe, and fructifies the plains ; 

The crackling ice dissolves j the rivers flow 

Vines crown the mountain tops, and corn the vales below. 

baker's 

Poem on the Universe. 



This immense and magnificent lumi- 
nary, which enlivens and governs the seve* 
ral planetary worlds, both primary and 
secondary, that revolve continually around 
him, is properly made use of in holy writ 



123 

as an emblem of the Fountain of Being and 
the Saviour of Men. 

As the whole system of which we are 
part, derives cheering light and invigorating 
heat from this vast orb, whose influence 
pervades the remotest objects with incon- 
ceivable rapidity and power, so the divine 
goodness is continually present in every 
place, to illuminate the understanding and 
to improve the heart of every believer. 

The church of the redeemed, rich in the 
bloom of holiness, and ripening for the 
harvest of glory, is said to be clothed with 
the sun * ; because it shines in the splen- 
dour of his righteousness, and is invigorated 
continually by his grace. It is the gracious 
promise, on which all the hopes and wishes 
of Christians are placed, that the righteous 

* Rev. xii. 1. 



1U 

shall ultimately shine as the $un* y in the 
kingdom of their father. To them, even 
in this vale of tears, amidst all the dark- 
ness and gloom of a sinful and changing 
world, disturbed by storms, and made dis- 
mal by increasing iniquity — to them, at all 
times and in all seasons, the Lord God is 
a sun and a shield-]-. And good reason 
Jiave the whole Christian world to rejoice, 
that the sun of righteousness, or the Sa- 
viour of men, who for our sakes humbled 
himself, and became obedient to death % 
hath risen again, with healing under his, 
wings. 

Viewing the material sun in all its glo- 
rious qualities, and beneficial operations 
upon every object within its system, how 
are the whole eclipsed and surpassed by him 



* Matt. v. 43. 



t Psalm lxxxiv. 11, 



125 

^ho is the sun of our immortal souls, of 
whose grace and merit this is but a faint 
emblem ; and from whom issues, in bright 
and gentle beams, all the light and all the 
joy we experience now, or hope to enjoy 
hereafter! The sun is, indeed, the most 
splendid object in the Creation ; but th& 
other is the source of all that is comely 
and attractive, both in nature and grace. 
The material sun runs its course and com- 
pletes its circuit, to fulfil its original desti- 
nation, from day to day, with unwearied 
regularity, activity, and ardour. And has 
not our divine Redeemer also finished the 
great career of our salvation, by perform- 
ing all those miracles of mercy for which 
the Father of the Universe ordained him 
from everlasting, and is he not still pro- 
claimed through the Gospel as the sove- 
reign luminary of his spiritual dominions ? 
The material sun diffuses vitality, illumina- 



126 

tion, vegetation, and joy through all ani- 
mated Nature, whether in our own planet, 
or in the worlds around us. And does not 
the sun of righteousness dissipate the igno- 
rance which darkens the intellectual region, 
enlighten our minds in all saving know- 
ledge, and spread abroad in the human 
heart every grace and virtue, so that we 
may be purified from corruption, and at 
length obtain admission into the kingdom 
of glory, where we may contemplate the 
Divinity without being confounded, and 
become perfect as the angels of God in 
heaven ! 

Were our natural sun to withdraw his 
beams for a length of time, the whole 
space would instantly be as black as night, 
and " chaos would come again." Now if 
it were possible for us to survive such a 
loss, and to endure so dreadful a condition, 



m 

with what exuberant joy and gratitude 
should we not hail the return of the solar 
rays to our hemisphere, and rejoice in the 
light and heat of the sun, the soul of our 
system ! 

Before the day-spring from on high 
visited our abject state, the depth and de- 
generacy in which ignorance and impiety 
had plunged us w r ere as deplorable. The 
moral world was in a state of darkness and 
corruption, with little knowledge of the 
principles of duty, and still less of a state 
of rewards and punishments hereafter. A 
remembrance of the paradisaical world, 
where righteousness prevailed and happi- 
ness was experienced, did indeed continue 
among a chosen few ; and a hope prevailed, 
founded upon the promise given, that di- 
vine light would again arise upon the earth 5 
and the powers of darkness be dispelled. 



128 

It was then that the compassionate Friend 
of our race came to seek and to save that 
which was lost* He saw us abandoned and 
forlorn, without help, and while we were 
in this condition, he entertained the most 
gracious intentions towards us, and not only 
redeemed our souls from destruction, but 
crowned us with loving kindness and ten- 
der mercy. The long-promised and long- 
expected deliverer, after a dismal period 
of apostacy and idolatry, arose upon the 
benighted world, and brought life and im- 
mortality to the clearest light, for the di- 
rection and comfort of the sons of men, by 
his Gospel * 

It might be reasonably imagined, that 
the blessings resulting from this great salva- 
tion would have been welcomed, by all who 
heard the joyful tidings, with sentiments of 
unbounded gratitude; and that the object* 



J 29 

of such unspeakable mercy, thus translated 
from darkness to light, by Him who is the 
light of the work/, would have hailed his 
appearance with religious joy, and sub- 
mitted themselves to his unerring direction 
with grateful and constant obedience. 

Could it be credited, but for the evi- 
dence of fact and experience, notwithstand- 
ing his kindness for the worthless and un^ 
thankful, that he was, and still is, despised 
and rejected of men f Does not the earth- 
return the fructifying warmth of the Sun 
with a profusion of verdure, foliage, and 
flowers ? Do not the irrational tribes greet 
his rising every morning, and rejoice in his 
presence through the day, w ith apparent gra- 
titude ? Are not all the orbs which circulate 
around him, and are preserved and cherished 
in their respective spheres by his ministry ? 
continually rendering him perpetual ho* 

K 



130 

mage, by maintaining invariable order and 
harmony ? Now are we not hereby taught 
by all Nature, what is due to the recep- 
tion of so many higher mercies, and do not 
the material works of God upbraid us with 
ingratitude to our best Benefactor and 
Redeemer ? 

That he was contemned and persecuted 
by the Jews, among whom he performed 
so many wonderful works, excites our 
astonishment, and calls forth our reproba- 
tion ; — what, then, shall be said for those, 
who, notwithstanding the blaze of evidence 
which surrounds his religion, still continue 
to live in opposition to its rules, and in 
violation of its ordinances ? 

Many who have been baptized into hi§ 
name, and who affect the title of Christians, 
yet rank with his open enemies, give the lie 



131 

by wicked works to his word ; and even 
betray him with a kiss, or with the profes- 
sion of peace on their lips. Is he not 
robbed of his honour, by all who would 
reduce him to the mere level of our imper- 
fect nature ? And can they be accounted 
his friends, who deny to his nature the 
prerogative of divinity ; who depreciate 
the merits of his obedience and suffe rings ; 
who blaspheme the sacrifice on the cross, 
which constitutes the glorious distinction 
of his faith ; who sully the lustre of his 
Gospel, by substituting the form for the 
power of godliness; or who tarnish, by 
an unholy life, the graces which shone so 
sweetly and eminently in him, and which 
have been set before us for our imitation ? 

But as the natural sun has its macula, 
or dark spots, which float upon its sur- 
face ; so the sun of righteousness is occa- 
k 2 



132 

sionally rendered obscure by external per- 
secution of his church, by the prevalence 
of erroneous doctrines, and by the con* 
duct of those who, while they are called 
after his name, and pretend to be his fol- 
lowers, dishonour their profession, and 
crucify the Son of God afresh by their 
evil deeds. 

But as, in the natural world, the solar 
orb continues to shed its powerful influence 
on all the objects within its sphere, and 
carries on its appointed work in sustaining 
the harmony of the system ; so in the spi- 
ritual world, He who is the light and the 
truth, will still uphold his cause, and dif- 
fuse his blessings to all the members of his 
church, in every age, till they are rendered 
meet for glory. 

The planetary system to which we be- 



133 

long, neither existed from eternity, nor 
will it endure for ever. Even the glorious 
luminary which irradiates and enlivens it, 
was kindled at the command of Omnipo- 
tence ; and we are assured, also, on the 
same authority, that the hour is coming, 
when the sun shall be darkened , and the 
moon shall not give her light. Having 
fulfilled its destined part in the universe of 
systems, our spacious and magnificent one 
must give w 7 ay to another, and new hea- 
vens and a new earth shall arise in the 
room of the present world. 

But notwithstanding these changes, the 
sun of righteousness shall shine in resplen- 
dent majesty through the countless ages 
of eternity; for he is God over all> blessed 
for ever. In the heavenly kingdom which 
will succeed this earth, there ziill be no 
need of the sun, neither of the moon^ 
k 3 



134 

shine in it ; for the glory of God doth 
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light 

thereof*. 

As every created splendour, and artifi- 
cial illumination, fades away amidst the 
refulgence of the solar light, so will all the 
glory pf man, whether consisting ol moral 
excellence, intellectual acquirement, or ex- 
tensive achievements, sink to nothing, and 
be utterly lost, at the consummation of all 
things, when He who is the fountain of 
truth, shah literally be all in all ! 

That the heathen nations, among whom 
the traditionary evidence of a Supreme; 
Creator was lost or perverted by supersti- 
tion, should make the sun the primary ob- 
ject of their religious adoration, cannot be 
a matter of wonder. Much must be con- 



* Rev. xxi. 23, 



135 

ceded to the feelings of men, who expe- 
rienced, under the most fertile climates, 
the powerful influence of this luminary 
upon all the luxuries of vegetation. 

Who can behold the rising; of the sun, 
even in our northern region, without ad- 
miration, and a devotional sentiment to 
the great Lord of All ? But in countries 
where the scenery is richer, and the sky 
more serene, such a spectacle must increase 
in lustre and grandeur. The description 
of it by a Roman poet, is very happy. 

Et jam Mygdoniis elata cubilibus alto 
Impulerat caelo gelidas Aurora tenebras., 
Borantes excussa comas, multumque sequent? 
Sole rubens :. illi roseus per nubila seras. 
Advertit flammas, alienumque sethera tardo 
Lucifer erit equo ; donee Pater igneus orbem 
Impleat, atque ipsi radios vetet esse sorori*. 



* Statius ; Thebaic], ii. 134. 
K 4 



136 

Aurora^ rising from her eastern bed, 
Glanc'd on the skies, and night before her fled ; 
Then shook her locks that dropp'd with silver dew ? 
And glow'd refulgent with the sun in view. 
Bright Lucifer* imbilAi the orient beam, 
And turn'd to other skies his ling'ring team : 
Now the replenish'd sun his orb reyeals, 
Aad dims the silver on his sister's wheels. 



That so glorious an object should inflame 
the affections, and make a deep impression 
upon the heart, was natural; and therefore, 
when we behold the Persian and Indian 
prostrate before the rising sun, piety may 
wish them better knowledge, but pity may 
compassionate the delusion, though it can- 
not excuse the error, 

Considering the blessings which this 
wonderful body is the instrument of con- 



*M- The morning star was so termed by the an- 
cients. 



137 

veying to infinite myriads of beings, it is 
not surprising that his presence should be 
welcomed by the simple children of Nature 
with an expression of joy and gratitude, 
which, by repetition, would become an act 
of religious service. Hence the rise of 
idolatry seems more reasonably accounted 
for, than in the laboured disquisitions 
which would ascribe it to a veneration of 
departed heroes, or the traditionary re^ 
membrances of remarkable events (g). 

There have been some who indulged the 
notion, that the sun is the receptacle of 
souls departed in a state of purity, that 
being the great fountain of light, opposed 
to utter darkness. This opinion certainly 
is more pleasing and agreeable to reason, 
than the wild fancy taken up by a learned 
man of our .nation, who maintained, in a 



138 

very ingenious treatise, that the body 
of the sun is the region of infernal tor- 
ments. Among other curious reasons for 
this strange hypothesis, he assigns the fol- 
lowing : 

" St. Austin telleth us, that malefac- 
* 6 tors, in his days, and such as did not 
" pay their debts, were by their judges 
" condemned to be exposed to, or laid 
" a^-roasting in, the sun, which in Africa, 
" where he lived, and where the sun shine th 
ft violently hot, was an extreme punish- 
fi ment. Nor is its heat only troublesome ; 
" its light, too, may ofFend. For if we 
" look upon it in its full meridian strength, 
¥. we shall be dazzled, not delighted; and 
ft if our eyes, like those of owls, were be- 
" reaved of the defence of their lids, we 
*' should no more endure the piercing light 



139 

" of his beams than they ; but if obliged 
66 to a constant beholding of tham for any 
" time, should be thereby reduced to a 
" state oi perfect darkness. 

" Now if the sun is apt to be so trouble* 
" some and offensive to us here, where we 
" are at such a mighty distance from it ; 
* 4 what do we think would it be, if we 
" were cast into the very body of it, and 
" made capable of subsisting in it, and 
" enduring all those sharp and dreadful 
" torments that so vast and vehement a fire 
" must inflict (h) ?" 

This, it must be confessed, is suffi- 
ciently descriptive ; but the learned author 
was not aware, that the foundation of his 
system was a vulgar error. It was a gene- 
ral notion down to his time, and it has 
continued to ours, that the sun is an ig- 



140 

nited globe, the heat of which infinitely 
exceeds that of red-hot iron ; the conse- 
quence of which assumption is, that the 
inhabitants of Mercury and Venus must 
be salamanders, while the condition of 
those of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Georgian* 
must be most miserable. 

Unfortunately, however, for the credit 
of hypothetical speculatists, it has been 
philosophically proved, that the sun is not 
a body of fire ; and that the intensity of 
heat it produces is not in the rays them- 
selves, but is the consequence of their 
union with our atmosphere, and the power 
of reflection. This is demonstrated by the 

simple circumstance of the great cold felt 
on the tops of mountains, while persons 

on the sides, and in the vallies, are over- 
powered with heat. Justly, therefore, is 
it concluded, that the sun is a solid body. 



141 

with an immense atmosphere of light, the 
particles of which only occasion heat by 
their contact with the medium through 
which they passfiy. 

So far, then, is the sun from being an 
object of dread and horror, which the dis- 
mal hypothesis we have been considering 
tends to represent it, that, in fact, we 
have new reasons to admire the wisdom 
and goodness of God in its creation. 

The vast magnitude of this glorious 
body, being infinitely larger than the earth, 
seems to render it a fit habitation for the 
spirits of the just made perfect*. 

We are told, that the number of happy 
disembodied spirits surrounding the' throne 



* Heb. xii. 23. 



142 

of .the Redeemer, surpasses all power of 
calculation*. When, therefore, we con- 
sider the immense space occupied by the 
solar orb, and how generally throughout 
the Sacred Volume, the sun is made use of 
as an image of the divine goodness, and 
the emblem of the Lord of Life, may we 



* Rev* vii. 9. Our translators have narrowed 
the sense of this passage, and considerably weakened 
its force and elegance, by substituting u no man" 
instead of 6 6 no one could number the great multi- 
u fade." In the original, it is xca i^oo o^o? itoKvq, o» 
«^9/*wui aulov ovlas nW7o. u And behold, a great mul- 
" titude, which no one had power to number." 
This implies fully, that no skill in enumeration, 
not even that of angelical beings, was equal to the 
task of reckoning the happy spirits of all nations 
and kindreds, and people and tongues, which stood 
before the throne of the Lamb. What an exalted 
and consolatory view does this give us of the extent 
of redemption, and how completely does it destroy 
the gloomy and uncharitable dogma of repro* 
bat ion ! 



143 

not humbly be permitted to think, that it 
has some relation to the state of grace and 
glory, as well as being the fountain of ma- 
terial light and comfort to our system ? 

Although the Scripture determines no- 
thing positively with respect to the place of 
departed souls, till the day of judgment, 
yet it contains enough to shew us, that it 
is an intermediate state, and not the con- 
summation of happiness or misery. 

The inheritance of the Saints is said to 
be in light*; and it is declared by th§ 
same authority, that the degrees of future 
bliss are various, according to the condi- 
tion and quality of the separate spirits ; 
There is one glory of the sun, and another 
glory of the moon, and another glory of 



* CoL i. 13. 



144 

the stars; for one star differ eth from an- 
other star in glory*. 

It is observable, that the apostolical dis- 
course containing this view of distinct states 
of celestial glory, is solely directed to the 
important purpose of proving the doctrine 
of- a future state, and the resurrection of 
the dead. Now what analogy could there 
be between the glorified vehicles of the 
righteous, and the heavenly luminaries ? 
The comparison is certainly elegant ; yet 
the inspired writer does not express himself 
in the strict language of comparison. He 
maintains, that the sun has a pre-eminent 
glory over the other celestial bodies, and 
that the glory of all these differs from the 
terrestrial glory, by which we must, of 
course, understand the excellence of hu~ 



* 1 Cor. xv. 41. 



145 

nlan nature. The Apostle's reasoning, then, 
amounts to this ; that, however great and 
splendid may be the qualities and merits 
of men, the glory of the beings inhabiting 
the superior orbs transcends them by va- 
rious degrees. That the stupendous struc- 
ture and brilliant lustre" of the heavenly bo- 
dies infinitely exceeds our earthly frames, 
is too plain a truth to need the attestation 
of an apostle ; we must therefore conclude, 
that this reference to the separate glories 
of the sun, the moon, and the stars, was 
intended for a higher object of consider- 
ation* 

And what that is can only, I think, be 
gathered from the passage itself, illustrated 
by other portions of Holy Writ, particu- 
larly that of Job, where the morning stars 
are said to have sung together at the Crea- 
tion, and that all the sons of God then 

it 



146 

shouted for joy and the declaration of 
our Lord to his Disciples, In my Father s 
house are many mansions: I go to prepare 
a place for yowf. 

That the sun shall be darkened at the 
last day, and probably be then extinguished, 
is so far from affecting this hypothesis, that, 
on the contrary, it tends to give it sup- 
port. The state of the blessed, as hath 
just been observed, is but a preparatory 
or an intermediate one. It is true, they are 
in the hands of God, and no evil can 
touch them J, because they are in a place 
of security, to which the spirits of darkness 
have no access ; but the happiness they 
enjoy is only a prelude to an infinitely 
higher state of glory, to which they will be 
admitted after the final judgment. If the 

* Job, xxxviii. 7. + John, xiv. 3. 

% Wisd. Hi. 4. 



• 147 

souls of men, on quitting their bodies, 
were to be fixed in the absolute state of 
happiness or misery, to what end are they 
to be called before the tribunal of God at 
the consummation of all things ? But the 
scriptural account of that tremendous event, 
sufficiently disproves this notion ; for it ex- 
pressly declares, that then, and not before, 
shall the righteous come, and inherit the 
kingdom prepared for them from before the 
foundation of the world* ; and that then, 
also, shall the wicked receive their doom 
of dwelling in everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels. 

From this description, and the declara- 
tions of the Almighty Judge, it is evident, 
that the condition of the righteous and th© 
wicked, in the interval between death and 



* Matt. xxY, SI. 
L £ 



148 

the resurrection, is that of expectation : 
the former that of hope and joy, and the 
latter that of misery and despair. 

Now if the centre of the system be the 
seat of rest and security, and for which it 
appears to be so well adapted, the circum- 
stance of its destruction at the last day, 
perfectly well agrees with what the Scrip- 
ture has revealed concerning the state of 
departed souls, as being a temporary resi- 
dence only, from which they are to be 
removed into the kingdom prepared for 
them, after they have undergone their final 
triaL 

The Almighty has created nothing in 
vain, and every part of the visible Creation 
abounds with life. It is not reasonable to 
suppose, that any one of the bodies, which 
are scattered throughout the immeasurable 



149 

expanse of the universe, is without inha- 
bitants ; and no greater objection can be 
raised to the peopling of the Sun, than to 
that of the Moon, Venus, Mercury, or the 
other planets. 

There is something sublime and elevating 
in the thought, that every solar ray which 
pervades our atmosphere, brings us intelli- 
gence from the world of spirits, and con- 
tinually maintains a communion with the 
region of light and bliss. 

The Scriptures uniformly represent the 
condition of the wicked under the term of 
darkness, as they do the character and 
future state of the righteous by the oppo- 
site term of light. Thus, in the Epistle of 
St. Jude, the Angels which kept not their 
first estate, but left their own habitation, 
are said to be reserved in everlasting chains 
l3 



150 

under darkness^ unto the judgment of the 
great day. 

Now in the sol^r orb there can be no 
darkness at all ; but one unclouded day, 
and an unchanging season must there con* 
tinually prevail. 

There is, literally, no night there* ; so 
that the sublime description of the evange- 
lical prophet may be here fitly adopted 
and applied: The Sun shall be no more thy 
light by day, neither for brightness shall 
the Moon give light unto thee; but the 
Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting 
light, and thy God thy glojy-f. 

To that common centre, the spirits of 
the virtuous may be constantly arriving 



t Isaiah j Ix. 19. 



151 

from various parts of the system, so as to 
constitute that social assemblage and union 
described by our Lord : And they shall 
come from the east, and from the west, 
and from the north, and from the south, 
and shall sit dozen in the kingdom of 
God^. 

If on this globe we possess so many ad- 
vantages, and opportunities of contem- 
plating the works of the Almighty, how 
much greater may we imagine their powers, 
and extensive their observation, who dwell 
in the centre of light ? 

Our great poetical commentator has ex- 
pressed this thought most happily, though 
he makes the Sun only a place of angelical 
residence. It is observable, that in the 



* Luke, xiii. 29. 
L 4 



152 

account of Satan's escape from the region 
of darkness, an 1 fligh t to the upper world, 
JVlilton describes the fiend as being obliged 
to put on the appearance of an Angel of 
Light, in his approach to the Sun, to learn 
t)ie abode of njan from Uriel. The ad- 
dress of Satan, and the answer of Uriel, 
aptly paint the sublime view afforded to a 
beholder in the centre of our system ; 



— ; -Brightest seraph, tell 

In which of all these shining orbs hath man 

His fixed seat, or fixed seat hath none 5 

But all these shining orbs his choice to dwell ? 



To this artful question, U riel replies by 
a description of the Creation, and then 
points the inquirer to the object of his re- 
search : 



Look downward on that globe, whose hither side, 
With light from hence,, tho'*but reflected, shines : 



155 



That place is earth, the seat of man ; that light 
His day, which else, as th' other hemisphere, 
Night would invade ; but there the neighb'ring moon 
(So call that opposite fair star) her aid 
Timely interposes, and her monthly round, 
Still ending, still renewing, thro' mid heaven. 
With borrowed light her countenance triform 
Hence fills, and empties, to enlighten th' earth, 
And in her pale dominion checks the night. 

PAR. LOST j B. Ui. 

In that remarkable representation of the 
different conditions of the righteous and 
the wicked after death, given by our Lord, 
in his usual parabolical mode of instruc- 
tion, the rich man is described as lifting 
up his eyes in torment, and beholding La- 
zarus afar off in a place of rest. It is added, 
that between the two places there is a great 
gulf frxed, so as to render a passage from 
the one to the other utterly impossible. 



Notwithstanding this, it is evident that 



154 

the souls of the wicked have occasional 
views of the blessed, which undoubtedly 
only serve to heighten the sense of their 
own loss and misery. 

In another parable, the state of the 
wicked after death is termed that of outer 
darkness*; not that 4hey who are there 
detained in fearful expectation of judgment, 
are unable to discern their own wretched- 
ness, or the happiness from which they 
are for ever separated ; but to denote the 
want of every comfort, and the total loss 
of hope. 

To what part of space they are driven, 
it would be needless to inquire, and pre- 
sumptuous to determine ; although it is 
not improbable, but that they occupy the 



* Matt. xxii. 13. 



155 

regions between the planets, or the parts 
beyond them, without having any resting 
place : while the spirits of the just are asso- 
ciated in a state of serenity, waiting with 
joyful confidence the period, when they 
shall be removed to a still higher seat of 
glory and usefulness, and when they shall 
be admitted into a more intimate coimnu-f 
nion with the Almighty. 

This sentiment is beautifully expressed 
by that truly Christian poet, Dr. Young, 
whose principal work contains many admi- 
rable illustrations of scriptural difficulties 
and obscurities. His description of the 
progressive state of the virtuous, and of 
their ultimate perfection in the centre of 
bliss, shall close this section : 



He, the great Father, kindled at one flame 
The woild of rationals ; one spirit pour'd 



156 



From spirit's awful fountain; pour'd himself 

Thro' all their souls, but not in equal stream, 

Profuse or frugal of th' aspiring God, 

As his wise plan demanded : and when past 

Their various trials, in their various spheres, 

If they continue rational as made, 

Resorbs them all into himself again, 

His throne their centre, and his smile their crown. 



157 



THE MOON. 



Soon as the evening shades prevail, 
The Moon takes up the wond'rous tale* 
And nightly to the list'ning earth, 
Repeats the story of her birth. 



ADDISON, 



Of all the celestial bodies, the moon, 
as being the nearest to us, is the most fa- 
miliarly known, and her phenomena are 
most accurately ascertained. Though ge- 
nerally ranked in the order of the planets, 
she is only a satellite, and is indebted for 
the superior distinction which she has ob- 
tained, to her affinity with the earth ; to 
the reverence paid her by the ancients, on 



158 

account of her influences and utility ; and 
perhaps, also, to the manner in which her 
creation is recorded in the scriptural cos- 
mogony, where it is said, that God made 
two great lights ; the greater light to rule 
the day, and the lesser light to rule the 
night*. 

Notwithstanding this declaration of their 
inspired historian and legislator, in which 
probably there was an intention of guard- 
ing the Jews from the worship of the sun 
and moon, it is certain that there was no 
species of idolatry to which that people 
were more addicted than this. And it is 
observable also, that of these tw r o ima- 
ginary deities, Ashtaroth, or the queen of 
heaven, had the preference in their esti- 
mation. 



* Gen, i. 1Q. 



159 

This worship of the two great luminaries^ 
and particularly a marked attention to the 
moon, was far more ancient than the time 
of the Jewish polity, as appears from tho 
apologetic observation of Job: If I beheld 
the sun when it shined, or the moon walk- 
ing in brightness; and my heart hath been 
secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed 
my hand ; this also were an iniquity to be 
'punished by the judge ; for I should have 
denied the God that is above*. 

This description of the empress of the 
night, is touched with inimitable elegance 
and exactness. The moon walking in 
brightness, is an accurate delineation of 
her perceptible motion, and silvery lustre. 
It also seems to denote the ground of that 
profound respect which was paid to this 



* Chap. xxxi. 26,-28. 



160 

luminary among the Arabians, where the 
frequent contemplation of her majestic ap- 
pearance, led to her elevation as the se- 
cond deity. 

That people computed their year by the 
periodical revolutions of the moon, and by 
her motion they also regulated their reli- 
gious festivals. In this respect they were 
imitated by other nations, particularly by 
the Jews, whose public feasts were deter- 
mined by the lunar periods. Thus, the 
author of the apocryphal book called Ec- 
clesiasticus says, He made the moon also, 
to serve in her season for a declaration of 
times, and a sign of the world. From the 
moon is the sig?i of the feasts, a light that 
decreaseth in her perfection. The month 
is called after her name : increasing won- 
derfully in her shining, being an instru- 
ment in the armies above, shining in the 



161 

firmament of 'heaven. The beauty of hea- 
ven, the glory of the stars, an ornament 
giving light in the highest places of the 
Lord*. 



Next to- the superstition of idolatry, 
may be considered that which prevailed 
almost universally among the ancient na- 
tions, and which is not yet wholly eradi- 
cated, of a supposed power in these lumi- 
naries, as also in the other planets, over 
the fortunes of mankind. This notion of 
a sidereal influence upon the productions 
of the earth, apparently arose from the 
belief, that the celestial bodies were the 
seats of peculiar deities, from whence they 
beheld, and took a concern, according to 
their natures, in the affairs of mortals. This 
delusion gave rise to the vanity of judicial 



* Eccles. xliiL 6, 9. 
M 



162 

astrology, into the practice of which many 
men of eminence were formerly misled, 
from a very unwarrantable desire of know* 
ing the issue of events before the time. 

The observation of the lunar influence 
upon the ocean, or of the rising of the 
tides according as the moon comes to 
the meridian, might have contributed to 
strengthen the notion that she has an effect 
upon plants, animal bodies, and the wea- 
ther. But though this is now universally 
exploded as a vulgar error among men of 
science, it is to be lamented that the body 
of the people are kept in the belief of it, 
by those otherwise useful publications, the 
almanacks, in which the changes of the 
weather, and even political events, are 
foretold every year, with as much gravity 
and confidence as if they were mathemati- 
cal demonstrations. Another circumstance 



163 

seems to have contributed towards this po- 
pular delusion : and that is, the variable 
appearance assumed by the moon when 
she is on the increase, and also on the 
wane. Sometimes this planet is horned, 
then semicircular ; now gibbous, and next 
full and round. At one time she en- 
lightens us the whole night, at others only 
a part of it ; now she is in the northern 
hemisphere, and next in the southern* 

From these variations, and the universal 
practice of measuring time, and determin- 
ing the celebrations of festivals by the pe- 
riods of her return, it was concluded that 
the moon had a perceptible power on the 
productions of this globe. 

But though much may be allowed to the 
prejudices and ignorance of the ancients, 
who had not the means of making accurate 
m 2 



164 

observations upon the celestial bodies, there 
can be no excuse now for the encourage-. 

o ... 

ment of such a fallacy, since it is proved 
beyond all reasonable doubt, that the 
moon is a globe which has sea and land, 
mountains and valleys, clouds and vapours^ 
day and night, winter and summer, in the 
same manner, though varying in degree, 
with our own planet. 

The geography of the moon was first 
delineated with accuracy by Hevelius, after 
Galileo's immortal discovery of the tele- 
scope. By his observations with that in- 
strument, he was enabled not only to dis- 
tinguish the lunar mountains, but to ascer- 
tain their heights and extent. These, con- 
sidering the magnitude of that planet, 
when compared with our earth, are very 
great; the lunar Apennines running above 
three hundred miles, and the chain of 



165 

mountains to which that astronomer gave 
the name of Taurus, exceeding five hun- 
dred miles in length. The heights of them 
vary; the loftiest, according to Hevelius, 
is less than three English miles; but a 
later observer has gone so far as to make 
the lunar mountains five times higher thaa 
those of the earth. Many of them have 
craters of a prodigious breadth and depth, 
several eruptions from which have been 
seen and described by one of the first 
astronomers of the present age. 

Indeed, as the surface of the moon ex- 
hibits more inequalities than the earth, and 
as its mountains are evidently more volca- 
nic than ours, it seems as if the substance 
of that planet is of a firmer and more re- 
fractory texture than the terraqueous globe. 
This is further confirmed by the circum- 
stance, that the lunar continents far ex- 



166 

c ed the seas and oceans thereon. That there 
ave springs and rivers in the moon, cannojt 
be doubted; and it appears certain, that 
there are large collections of waii rs there, 
answerable to some of the most extensive 
likes on oar globe; but these bear no pro- 
portion to the vast ridges of high lands 
stretching themselves in a continued course 
from one pole to the other, and spreading 
out again in a variety* of directions, and 
without any material interruptions, from 
east to west. 

Hence may be accounted for in some 
measure, the extreme rarity of the lunar 
atmosphere ; for though some astronomers 
have denied that the moon is surrounded 
by any, its existence has been clearly 
ascertained by observations ; from whence 
it appears, that the higher mountains in 
the dark hemisphere, and near the illumi- 



167 

nated edge of the planet, have a fainter 
light, in proportion to their distances from 
that edge; which proves that the moon 
has a refracting atmosphere. This has 
been farther demonstrated by the observa- 
tion of a faint twilight on the moon. Now, 
as this crepuscular light necessarily de- 
pends upon the quantity and height of 
matter capable of reflecting the solar rays, 
here is all the evidence that can be required 
for the existence of a lunar atmosphere. 

Those astronomers who have denied the 
reality of such an atmosphere, principally 
founded their objection on the circumstance 
of the fixed stars being seen close to the 
edge of the moon immediately before 
their occultation. By careful observations, 
however, it has been found, that there is a 
gradual diminution of light in the stars 
before their actual disappearance; which 
proves that there is an atmosphere sur- 
ly! 4 



168 

rounding the lunar globe, although it is 
much rarer than that of our earth, being 
at least eight times less in height. 

That the moon has clouds and vapours, 
follows from the preceding demonstration; 
but the fine texture of its atmosphere will 
not support such large and opaque masses 
as are frequently suspended over us, and 
discharge themselves in torrents of water 
upon the earth. 

The situation of our sister planet in this 
respect seems to resemble the antediluvian 
or paradisaical one, as described in the 
Mosaic history of the infant world, when 
the Lord God had not caused it to rain 
upon the earth, and there to as not a man 
to till the ground. But there went up a 
mist from the earth, and watered the 
whole face of the ground*. 

MB— — B— a—— H»» hu m.— ■ ^ ^— ppM 

* Gen. ii. 5, 6. 



169 

All the purposes of vegetation may be 
there answered as fully as in many parts of 
the earth, where the rains are compara- 
tively but dews, to those which fall in 
other climates. 

Although the moon has the same year 
with us, making its revolution round the 
sun in the same period of time, yet as the 
declination of its axis is considerably smaller 
than ours, there must be less inequality 
of seasons on that planet than what we 
experience. 

But, perhaps, the most singular circum- 
stance with respect to this luminary is, that 
one half has never any darkness, being 
constantly enlightened, in the absence of 
the sun, by the earth acting towards it as 
a moon; while the other hemisphere has an 
alternate fortnight of light and darkness. 



170 

That a body so constructed, and exhi- 
biting such a variety of appearances, cor- 
responding to the diversified scenery of our 
world, should be a solitary desart, is by no 
means agreeable to the analogy of Nature, 
the dictates of reason, nor even to the 
sublime views of the divine wisdom and 
goodness opened to us in the Holy Scrip* 
tures. 

As the Almighty hath created nothing 
in vain, we have no right to conclude that 
where he has displayed so much beauty, 
and for which so many means of utility and 
comfort have been provided, no intelli- 
gencies reside to enjoy his blessings, and to 
serve the Donor. 

The royal Psalmist seems clearly to have 
had other sentiments on this exalted sub- 
jectj when in a high strain of devotional 



171 

contemplation, he breathed forth this ex* 
clamation : Praise him, sun and moon, praise, 
him, all ye stars of light*. This address 
follows that made to the various orders of 
celestial intelligences, as that does a gene- 
ral call upon the heavens to praise the 
Lord. It is observable, that a marked dif- 
ference is made by the inspired penman of 
this sublime ode, between the inhabitants 
of the upper and the nether world. Of 
the former it is said : Let them praise the 
name of the Lord, for he commanded, and 
they were created. Tie hath also esta- 
blished them for ever and ever; he hath 
made a decree which shall not pass. But 
in his call upon kings of the earth and all 
people, the Psalmist says : Let them praise 
the name of the Lord: for his name alone 
is excellent, his glory is above or beyond 
the earth and heaven." 



* Psalm cxlyiii. 3. 



If I 

When it is said of the celestial worlds* 
that they are established for ever, and 
that the decree of their preservation is im- 
mutable, it can never relate to the mecha- 
nical order of the planetary system, which 
the Scriptures in other places frequently 
declare shall vanish away like smoke, and 
pass away with a great ncise, w^ile the 
earth, and the works that are therein^ shall 
be burnt up il % 

The declaration, therefore, and the call 
for thanksgiving grounded upon it, must 
have a reference to a higher subject, even 
to a regular order of beings, established by 
infinite wisdom for an everlasting course of 
bliss and utility. 

To this the concluding apostrophe of the 
enraptured Psalmist, addressed to the sons 

* Isaiah) lu 6. % peter, iiij 10. 



173 

of men, has also an allusion, where they 
are reminded that, however splendid and 
excellent the heavenly hierarchies may be, 
the glory of the Lord, or that in which he 
is encircled, is beyond them; or, as the 
original will bear to be rendered, it is at an 
infinitely greater distance. Here then seems 
to be a climax worth considering. The 
call is not in the mere strain of poetry upon 
inanimate things; but first upon the ange- 
lic hosts ; then upon the inhabitants of the 
sun, the moon, and the stars of light, as 
composing a regular train, fixed and regu- 
lated by the king of Eternity for the pur- 
poses of his glory ; and then, lastly, upon 
the children of men, in all their gradations 
of rank, influence, and capacity. 

But to return to our observations on the 
moon. 



The various uses which this satellite 



174 

renders to the earth, are repaid in an 
ample proportion, by reflecting the solar 
light to her, and by probably occasioning 
a similar flux and reflux of the waters, called 
tides, as are experienced in our seas. 

Here I shall quote the words of an acute 
astronomer, especially as his most enter- 
taining and scientific " Treatise on the 
" Planetary Worlds " is become extremely 
scarce. " The lunar globe/' says the 
learned Huygens, " is divided into two 
" parts, in such a manner, that those who 
" live on the one side never lose sight of 
" our earth, and those who live on the 
" other never enjoj' it, except it be a few 
" who live on the confines of each of these, 

and who lose, and see us again, by 
" turns, The earth must seem much 
" greater than the moon doth to us, as 
4< its diameter is four times larger. But 
" that which is most surprising is, that 



175 

" both night and day they see it alway* 
¥ in the same part of the heavens, as if it 
" never moved: some of them behold it 
f in the zenith, others a little above the 
" horizon, and some again exactly on the 
" horizon, still turning upon its own axis* 
" and presenting them every twenty-four 
" hours with a view of its various coun- 
t 6 tries, even of those that lie near the 
" poles, and some which perhaps are as 
** yet unknown to us. 

" They have the earth in its monthly 
" wane and increase ; they see it half, and 
" horned, and full, by turns, just as we do 
" the body of the moon. But the light 
" they receive from us is five times greater 
" than that which w T e receive from them ; 
" so that in dark nights, that part of the 
" moon which hath the advantage of being 
" turned towards us, receives a very glo- 
" rious light from our globe. 



176 

44 Their days are always of the same 
44 length with their nights; and the sun 
64 rising and setting to them but once in 
44 one of our months, makes the time, 
" both of their light and darkness, to be 
* ? equal to fifteen of our days. 

44 If the bodies of the Lunarians were 
44 of the same materials as ours, those who 
* 4 have the sun pretty high in their ho- 
44 rizon, would be nearly burnt up in such 
44 long days. This will be the case with 
44 those who live upon the borders of the 
44 two hemispheres ; but those who dwell 
u under the poles, will have just about as 
44 much heat as our whale-fishers have oii 
44 the coast of Greenland and Nova Zem- 
44 bla in the middle of sumnien I call 
44 those the poles of the moon, round 
44 which the fixed stars seem to turn to 
44 its inhabitants, which are different from 
u ours, and also from those of the eclip- 



17? 

u tic^ although they move round these at 
u the distance of five degrees in a period 
" of nineteen years*/* 

Great and Numerous are the benefits 
rendered by this luminary to our planet. 
How dismal would be our wintry nights, 
especially in the more northern regions, 
without her cheering influence ! This 
light gives unspeakable comfort to the in- 
habitants of the polar circles during the 
total absence of the sun, or after his short 
and partial appearance on their horizon* 
Again, in the season when the husband- 
men are actively engaged m gathering in 
the fruits of the earth, this friendly planet 
rises at full for three or more nights suc- 
cessively about the same space of time, 

* Cosmotheoros, sive de Tcrris Coaleslibus, ea- 
rumque ornatu ? conjecture, &c« lib. iL p. U% 
*dit. 1699. 



178 

thus enabling them to continue their la- 
bours after the heat of the day, and thereby 
to complete the " joy of harvest" 

To the mariner, in his long and perilous 
voyage over the trackless 6cean, the moon 
is of incalculable advantage, not only by 
affording him light, but in enabling him 
to make accurate observations for cor- 
recting his course and ascertaining his lon- 
gitude. 

Her influence upon the tides of the 
ocean is accurately determined, and the 
times of their returns at different places are 
exactly known. This flux and reflux is of 
essential benefit in a variety of respects. 
.It carries on an intercourse between dif- 
ferent countries, cleanses the channels of 
rivers, enriches the adjoining lands with 
manure, and conduces to the health of 



179 

men, as well as to the progress of a vigo 
rous and beautiful vegetation. 

And this probably is still farther pro- 
moted by the influence of the moon upon 
the atmosphere; which being a lighter fluid 
than water, and much nearer to the lunar 
orbit than the surface of the sea, cannot 
but be sensibly affected by her approach; 
whence there must be greater and higher 
tides in the air than in the ocean. 

By the eclipses of the moon, the sciences 
of astronomy and geography have been 
rendered more perfect, and by their assist- 
ance many disputed periods of ancient his- 
tory have been determined, and the ac- 
counts of time been regulated. 

Such being the benefits, and so great 
the beauties, exercised and displayed by 
K2 



180 

this planet, with what propriety is she 
adopted as an emblem of the Church, in 
the elegant imagery of inspired poetry, 
which thus describes her, in conjunctioa 
with the fountain of light : Who is she thai 
hoketh forth as the morning, fair as the 
Moon, dear as the Sun*? 

As the light of the moon is borrowed 



* Canticles, vi. 10. The whole verse is in the 
original exquisitely beautiful; but its force, ele- 
gance, and even meaning, are lost in the obscurity 
of our translation : Fair as the moon, clear as the 
sun, and terrible as. an army with banners. This 
last comparison has no sort of affinity to the preced- 
ing ; but if we render the passage according to the 
Hebrew idiom, splendid as the starry host, the cli- 
max rises to the height of sublimity. The word 
Zisbaoth, or host of Heaven, is a common phrase 
in Scripture for the stars, including the sun and 
moon ; but here the Royal Poet has adopted a wprd 
denoting a body of troops glittering in armour, to 
distinguish the stars from the former luminaries. 



181 

rom the great central source of light, and 
is only reflected to us from her surface ; 
so the Church obtains all her glory and 
perfection, her gifts and excellencies, from 
the Sun of Righteousness, out of 
whose fullness she has continued to receive 
in all ages, and under every dispensation, 
grace for grace** 

She is indeed fair and lovely, shining 
as a light in a dark place, and shewing 
forth continually the great work of re- 
demption, which was indicated and prefi- 
gured in the new moons under the sha- 
dows of the law* and in the Levitical ser-* 
vice. 

As long as the sun shall dispense his 
rays throughout our system, so long will 



* John, i. 16* 



182 

the moon be obedient in her course, and, 
following his direction, she will regularly 
bestow her borrowed light for the comfort 
and guidance of men. In like manner, 
the Church of God shall endure while the 
work of mediation continues; and- by her 
influence and direction will the children of 
;the kingdom, the heirs of immortality, be 
rendered meet for the inheritance of the 
saints in light*. 

The moon is frequently obscured by the 
clouds of our atmosphere, and sometimes 
she suffers a partial or total eclipse, as the 
earth interposes between her and the sun. 
Similar to this has been, and ever will be, 
the condition of the Church, while she is 
in her probationary and ministerial state. 
At certain seasons infidelity and heresy, 

* Col, i. 12, 



183 

licentiousness of principles and profaneness 
of manners, so thicken the atmosphere, 
that the light of religion is either totally 
hidden, or but dimly seen. Notwithstand- 
ing this the Church endures, and conti- 
nues her steady course, though men be- 
hold her not, through the corruptions of 
the times. 

The malevolence of the wicked cannot 
impede her progress; for though immora- 
lity, ridicule, and persecution, may occa- 
sion a temporary obscuration of her glory 
and influence, the power of Omnipotence 
maintains her in the orbit of truth and use- 
fulness; and the word of immutable veracity 
hath declared, that the powers of darkness 
shall never be able to prevail against her*. 

There are some people who view an 



* Matt. xvi. 18. 
K 4 



184 



eclipse with fear and consternation, re* 
garding the phenomenon as portentous of 
a particular calamity, or as the prelude of 
a universal dissolution. 

Thus it is frequently with pious, but 
timid minds, on being obliged to witness 
the decay of religion, the prevalence of 
Scepticism, and the troubles of the world* 
The triumphant progress of the spirit of 
darkness, manifested in the prevalence of 
impiety, and in the depression of virtue, 
occasions in the tender and benevolent 
mind, fear and grief approaching to des^ 
pondency. 

In this dismal scene, such persons, not 
being able to discern any prospect of light 
and deliverance, are apt to take up the 
lamentation of the prophet : Will the Lord 
cast off for ever, and will he be favourable 
no more? Is his mercy clean gone for 



185 

ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? 
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath 
he in anger shut up his tender mercies? 

A due consideration of the infinite good- 
ness of the Almighty, and a retrospective 
view of his providential care of the Church 
in past ages, will, however, soon correct 
this murmuring spirit, and turn its com- 
plaints into the language of gratitude and 
confidence, as expressed by the same in- 
spired writer : And I said this is my infir- 
mity; but I will remember the years of 
the right hand of the Most High. I will 
remember the works of the Lord; surely I 
will remember thy zvonders of old%\ 

The work of righteousness is still going 
on in the earth, amidst all the confusions 



* Psalm Lxxvii. 7 — 11. 



186 

which agitate nations and perplex indivi- 
duals. The Sun of Righteousness illumi- 
nates and preserves his Church, notwith- 
standing the thick and gross darkness which 
appears to be spread out over all people ; 
and the promise made to the Redeemer by 
the Eternal Father shall be fulfilled : They 
shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon 
endure, throughout all generations. He 
shall come down like rain upon the mown 
grass, as shozoers that water the earth. In 
his days shall the righteous flourish, and 
abundance of peace so long as the moon 
exduretii*. 



Psalm lxsii. 5 9 7. 



187 



THE PLANETS. 



Mystical dance which yonder starry sphere 

Of Planets, and of fix' d, in all her wheels 

Resembles nearest ; mazes intricate, 

Eccentric, intervolv'd, yet regular 

Then most, when most irregular they seem ; 

And in their motions harmony divine 

So smooths her charming tones, that God's own ear 

Listens delighted. > 

MILTON. 



The harmony of the spheres has been 
ia favourite theme with the poets; and 
though the Pythagorean doctrine, on which 
it is founded, of a supposed musical pro- 
portion in the distances and magnitudes of 
the planetary bodies, be merely fanciful, 
yet the representation of joy and gladness 



188 

in the motions of the celestial worlds, may 
be admitted as illustrative of the wisdom 
and goodness manifested in their construc- 
tion and order. 

Milton has most happily availed himself 
of this ancient opinion, in his description of 
the creation, particularly at the close of it, 
when the Almighty returns from his great 
work attended by the heavenly hosts. 

up he rode, 

Follow'd with acclamation and the sound 
Symphonious of ten thousand harps that tun'd 
Angelic harmonies : the earth, the ak 
Resounding (thou remember'st, for thou heard'st), 
The heavens and all the constellations rung, 
The planets in their stations list'ning stood, 
"While the bright pomp ascended jubilant. 

The poet has adopted the same analogy, 
and with equal, if not superior effect, when 
he compares the festivity of the angels in 
the immediate presence of the Omnipotent, 



189 

to the " harmony of the starry sphere/* 
which 

So smooths her charming tones, that God's own ear 
Listens delighted. — i 

Inspiration has ascribed a voice to the 
celestial orbs, and made them, what they 
fruly are, the universal preachers of righ- 
teousness, proclaiming to all rational crea- 
tures a great First Cause, and continual 
preserver of all things. The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God, and the firmament 
shewzth his handy work. Day unto day 
uttereth speech, and night unto night shew- 
eth knowledge. There is no speech nor 
language where their voice is not heard. 
Their line is gone out through all the 
earth, and their words to the end of the 
world*. 



* Psalm xix. 1, 4. 



190 

Arid what is the subject of their minis-* 
tration, and what the constant lesson which 
these brilliant instructors perpetually in- 
culcate ? 

An apostolical commentator upon the 
works of Nature and of Grace, hath given 
the explanation in his censure of the hea- 
thens for falling into the gross impieties of 
polytheism. 

That which may be known of God is 
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it 
unto them. Tor the invisible things of 
Him, from the creation of the world, are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things 
that are made, even his eternal power and 
godhead*. 

So forcibly indeed do the heavens de~ 

— 9 . 

* Rom. i. 19, 20. 



191 

tlare the glory of God, that the intel- 
ligent and virtuous part of mankind in 
all ages have been drawn thereby into a 
devotional admiration of his power and 
goodness. 

It is not so much the splendour of the 
scene, when the vast concave is bespangled 
with innumerable lights of different de- 
grees of magnitude, that produces this 
sentiment, as the consideration of the re- 
gularity observed in the periods of their 
risings and settings, and the harmony of 
their respective motions. 

This led one of the greatest philosophers 
of antiquity to frame the following elegant 
and striking argument in support of the 
existence of a Supreme Being, and of his 
active agency in the creation and superin- 
tend an ce of the universe. 



m 

" If," says he, " there were men, whose 
" habitations had been always undef 
" ground, in large and commodious bouses, 
" adorned with pictures and statues, fur- 
" nished with every article of utility, con- 
" venience, and comfort ; and if, without 
44 stirring from that subterraneous habi- 
* tation, they should be informed of a 
" certain divine power and majesty, and 
V after some time the earth should open, 
44 and they should quit their dark abode to 
44 come upon the surface, where they might 
44 behold the earth, sea, and the heavens ; 
44 consider the vast extent of the clouds, 
44 and the prodigious force of the winds ; 
44 should behold the sun and observe his 
* 4 grandeur, and perceive that the day is 
44 occasioned b} r the diffusion of his light 
u through the atmosphere; and when night 
44 has obscured the earth, these persons 
44 should contemplate the heavens be- 



193 

" spangled with stars : the various appear-* 
" ances of the moon in her increase and 
" wane ; the rising and setting of the other 
*■ luminaries, and the inviolable regularity 
" of their courses ; when,! say, they should 
" behold all these wonders, and meditate 
" upon them, it is impossible but that 
* f they would draw the conclusion, that 
" there is an infinitely wise and powerful 
" Creator, and that these are his mighty 
works*." 

Equally excellent are the observations 
made by Cicero upon this passage. 

" Let us imagine," says he, in the per- 
son of the stoic, " as great a darkness as 
u was formerly occasioned by the irrup- 

* Aristotle, as quoted by Balbus the stoic, in Ci- 
cero de Natura Deorum, lib. ii. The original 
treatise of the Stagy-rite is unfortunately lost . 

o 



1,94 

€c lions of Mount iEtna, and" which are 
f said to have obscured the adjacent coun- 
f tries for two days, so that one man 
" could not know another; but on the 
f* third, when the sun appeared, they 
" seemed as persons risen from the grave. 
SS Now, if we should be suddenly brought 
from a state of dismal darkness to see 
" the light, how beautiful would the hea- 
" yens appear to us! But because we are 
" accustomed to the spectacle, our minds 
" are not affected, nor disposed to search 
<c into the principles of what always appear 
" in view ; as if the novelty, rather than 
66 the importance of things, ought to ex- 
46 cite our curiosity. 

" Is he deserving the name of man, who 
" attributes to chance, instead of an intel- 
$} ligent cause, the constant motions of the 
cc heavens, the regular courses of the stars, 



195 

* fi the wonderful proportion and connexion 
w of things, and all conducted with so 
" much exactness, that our reason itself is 
6i lost in the inquiry ? 

u When we see machines move artifi- 
" cially, do we doubt whether they are 
* 4 the productions of genius and skill ? In 
u like manner, when we behold the hea- 
u vens moving with a prodigious celerity ? 
" and causing an annual succession of the 
" different seasons- of the year, which vh 
" vify and preserve all things, can we en- 
u tertain a doubt that this world is direct- 
9 ed, I will not say only by reason, but 
u by a reason the most excellent and di«> 
w vine? For* in short, there is no need 
* of seeking after proofs, as we need only 
" to contemplate the universal beauty and 
" harmony of Nature, to be satisfied that 
* c all is appointed by Divine Providence/' 
©2 



196 

Such was the conclusion drawn by the 
wisest of the ancient heathens, from a 
view of the regularity observable in the 
construction and motions of the heavenly 
bodies ; but how would their minds have 
expanded, and with how much greater co- 
piousness would they have treated this 
sublime theme, had they possessed the 
helps and knowledge which modern sciehee 
and discoveries open to us? 

If they inferred a Supreme and an Infi- 
nite Intelligence, from a contemplation of 
his works by the naked eye ; and if they 
reprobated with just severity those who 
attributed the production of all things to 
chance, would they not have been more 
enraptured with the belief of a Deity, and 
felt a still greater abhorrence of atheism, 
had they seen the provision made for the 
distant planets of our system, and been> 



197 

enabled to view innumerable worlds beyond 
the reach of the unassisted eye ? 

Truly did a pious writer of our own, 
country exclaim, 

An undevout Astronomer is xnad4 

Bereft, indeed , must he be of the ra- 
tional estimate of his powers, and insensi- 
ble of the proper use to be made of his 
knowledge, if the wonders which he is ac- 
customed to behold in the silent and reli- 
gious hour of meditation, do not raise his 
soul on the wings of faith and gratitude to 
the ever-present and all-directing God. 

The glory of this island, who has been 
truly denominated the Prince of Philoso- 
phers, made the most noble application of 
his wonderful attainments and surprising 
discoveries. The whole of his wisdom and 
o3 



198 

knowledge was sanctified to the noblest 
purposes ; and in his deep researches into 
the secrets of nature, and the laws of mat- 
ter and motion through the whole univer- 
sal system, he constantly directs our atten- 
tion to the great Author of all. Thus, in 
his elegant and perspicuous, though concise 
view oi the arrangement and order of the 
celestial bodies, both regular and irregular, 
of the solar system, Sir Isaac Newton is 
careful to impress the mind with a due sense 
of the wisdom observable in the disposition 
of them. 

" Six primary planets/' says he, revolve 
" about the sun in circles concentric with 
fiC him, and with motions directed towards 
" the same parts, and almost in the same 
" plane. Ten moons revolve about the 
*' Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, in circles con- 
M centric with them ? with the same direc- 



199 

" tion of motion, and nearly in the planes 
6< of the orbits of those planets. But it is 
" not to be conceived, that mere mechani- 
" cal causes could give birth to so many 
" regular motions, since the comets range 
" freely over all parts of the heavens in 
" very eccentric orbits, and by this kind of 
" motion pass with ease and rapidity 
" through the orbits of the planets; and in 
" their aphelia, where they move the 
" slowest, and continue the longest, they 
u recede to the greatest distances from 
" each other, and thence suffer the least 
" disturbance from their mutual attrac- 
" tions/' 

What can equal the force of reasoning 
exhibited by this illustrious man, in the 
following contemplation on Nature, and the 
questions thence proposed to the serious 
attention of the observer ? 

o 4 



200 

It is the principal thing that natural 
" philosophy ought to do, and it is indeed 
" the end of that science, that by a regular 
" chain of reasoning, we proceed from 
" effects to their causes, till at length we 
" arrive at the very first cause of all things : 
that we not only explain the mechanism 
Ci of the world, but that we may be thereby 
66 enabled to answer the following queries, 
" with others of a like nature : Whence it 
" is that the sun and the planets gravitate 
" mutually towards one another, while the 
" spaces between them are void of matter ? 
" How it comes to pass that Nature per- 
" forms nothing in vain ? Whence proceeds 
" the admirable beauty of the universe ? 
" To what end were the comets made ? 
" And whence is it that they move in prbits 
* 6 so very eccentric, from and to all parts 
" of the heavens ; whereas the courses of 
u the planets have the same direction, to- 



201 

wards the same parts in concentric orbits ? 
<6 Again, what hinders the sun and fixed 
" stars from rushing mutually against each 
" other ? How it happens that the bodies 
" of animals are framed with such exquisite 
6i art and wisdom, and for what purposes 
" their different parts are designed ? Whe- 
" ther it be possible that the eye could be 
" framed without any acquaintance with 
" optics, or the ear without any knowledge 
" of sounds ? Whence it is that the motions 
" of the body obey the direction of the 
" will ; and what is that which we term 
" instinct in animals ? Whether the sensory 
" of animals be not the place where the 
*- c substance of sensation is present, and 
" into which the sensible species of objects 
" are conducted by the nerves and the 
l * brain, that they may be there perceived ? 
" Lastly/' this great man concludes, 

Whether from a right solution of these 



202 

* querles ? it does not appear that there is 
*# a Being, incorporeal, self-existent, intel- 
" ligent, and omnipresent, who in infinite 
" space, or as it were, in his own sensory, 
" beholds accurately, and discerns tho- 
" roughly, all things themselves ; apd by 
Ci being ever present, comprehends them 
H all within himself * W 

Again, in his profound work, entitled 
u - The Mathematical Principles of Natural 
Philosophy," he observes, that " This most 
" excellently contrived system of the sun, 
" planets and comets, could have had its 
45 origin from no other than an infinitely 
" wise and all-powerful Being: and that 
" upon the reasonable supposition of the 
" fixed stars being centres or suns of simi^ 
" Jar systems, all of them must be subject 

to, as all are indicative of, the dominion 

jnTOnummmiMiim mm" ■■ ■'" ■■ ' — i— — in ■■■■■■mi iiiiimnim— i 

* Newton's Optic, Ed. LaL p. g!4. 



203 

m of one Supreme Intelligence ; especially 
" as it appears that the light of the fixed 
" stars is of the same nature with the light 
^ of the sun ; and that all these systems do 
mutually impart their light to one ano~ 
" ther." 

Such is the improvement which true 
philosophy makes of its observations and 
discoveries, agreeable to the sagacious re- 
mark of another profound inquirer into 
Nature, that " a little philosophy inclineth 

mens minds to atheism, but that a depth 
" in it brings them about to religion ; for 
4 ' while the mind of man looketh upon se- 

cond causes scattered 9 it may sometimes 
" rest in them, and go no further; but 
" when it beholdeththe chain of them con- 
" federate and linked together, it must 
" needs fly to Providence and Deity*/' 

* Lord Chancellor Bacon. 



204 

From the harmony observable in all parts 
of the Creation, and the analogies subsist- 
ing between objects that on an ordinary and 
superficial view appear very dissimilar, a 
uniformity of design is so evident, that it 
is wonderful how men of any thought or 
discernment could ever have fallen into 
scepticism and infidelity. 

This uniformity and analogy will be more 
apparent, if we take only a cursory view 
of the solar system, and the regularity of 
the planetary motions, the wisdom mani- 
fested in their construction, and the bounr. 
tiful provision made for them, according 
to their magnitudes and distances from the 
source of light and heat. 

The first planet from the centre is Mer- 
cury, which describes a very eccentric elr 
liptical orbit round the same with great 



205 

swiftness in less than three months ; and in 
consequence of his being always very near 
the sun, he is rarely seen by us, and when 
he is visible, it is only for a short space a 
little after Sun-set, and the like before sun- 
rise. 

The surface of this planet, when viewed 
through the most powerful telescopes, ap-> 
pears equally luminous, not a single spot 
being discernible thereon. Yet he has si- 
milar phases with the moon, being some- 
times horned, at others gibbous, and fre- 
quently shining with a face almost full ; 
which changes sufficiently prove that this 
is an opaque body ; and though he is three 
times nearer to the sun than w T e are, it is 
not to be supposed that a planetary world, 
having a periodical revolution, is destitute 
of living and rational beings. It is well 
observed by a learned writer, 54 that the 



206 

u inhabitants of Mercury have probably 
" the same opinion of us that we have of 
" Saturn, that we must be intolerably cold, 
" and have little or no light, on account of 
" our great distance from the sun." He 
then proceeds on this subject in the follow- 
ing pleasing and scientific manner ; 

" The astronomy of those who live in 
" Mercury, and the appearance of the 
" planets to them, opposite at certain times 
" to the sun, may be easily conceived by 
" the Copernican system. At the times of 
" these oppositions Venus and the Earth 
" must necessarily appear very bright and 
" large to them : for if Venus shines so 
" splendidly to us when she is new and 
" horned, she must, when in opposition to 
* 6 the Sun, and at full, be six or seven 
" times larger to the inhabitants of Mer- 
" cury, and affording them so strong a 



^07 

* £ 'light, that they can have no reason to 
<€ complain of the want of a moon. What 
" the length of their days is, or whether 
" they have different seasons of the year, 
" cannot he determined, because we have 
" not vet been able to observe whether the 
€£ axis of this planet has an inclination to 
" the orbit, or what is the time of his 
" diurnal revolution upon his axis. But 
" since Mars, the Earth, Jupiter, and 
££ Saturn, certainly have such successions, 
" there can be no doubt that days and 
" nights, and a vicissitude of seasons, are 
" experienced in Mercury, in some degree 
" similar to what are known in the other 
" planets*." 

The most brilliant of ail the stars is the 
planet Venus, which has obtained a very 
remarkable distinction, in being adopted as 

* Huygens' Cosmotheoros ? p. 92. 



208 

his symbol by the Lord of Life : 1 am the 
<root and the offspring of David (says Je- 
sus), and the bright and morning 
star*. And in his promise to the faithful 
who shall overcome and keep his works unto 
the end, he says, and I will give him the 

MORNING STAR*f. 

Agreeable to this is the declaration of 
the Apostle, We have also a more sure xoord 
of prophecy i whereunto ye do well, that ye 
take heed as unto a light that shineth in a 
dark place, until the day dazvn, and the 
day star arise in your hearts^ 

Whether this language be merely figura- 
tive, or that it points us to a future state 
of light and glory , resembling the splendour 
displayed by this brilliant luminary, thus 
much appears evident, that the manner in 



* Rev. xxii. 16. + Ch.ii.28. $2 Pet. L. 19. 



209 

which the planet is mentioned, conveys an 
idea of a higher state of being, as a reward 
for those who faithfully discharge their 
trust in this probationary state. 

The more this planet is contemplated* 
the more striking and appropriate will th§ 
comparison appear. 

What star is so constant in its attendance* 
upon the sun as Venus ; or rather, which 
of the planetary bodies marks his rising and 
setting so conspicuously as she does ? In 
the morning she calls upon mortals to awake 
from their slumbers, and to hail the light 
of day just before the rising of the solar 
orb, whence she was called Phospher, or 
the Morning Star, by the ancients. Again, 
immediately after his setting she glitters 
above the horizon, ushering in the season 
of repose, guiding the footsteps of the w r ay- 



210 

faring man by her cheering beams, and 
raising the mind of the serious observer to 
the adorable Fountain of universal being : 
this procured the planet the name of Hes- 
perus, or the Evening Star. Thus Milton, 
in his beautiful description of the closing 
day in Paradise : 

Now came still evening on, and twilight gray- 
Had in her sober livery all things clad ; 
Silence accompanied 3 for beast and bird, 
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests, 
Were slunk 3 all but the wakeful nightingale - 7 
She ail night long her amorous desCant sung 
Silence was pleas' d j now glow'd the firmament 
With living sapphires 3 Hesperus, that led 
-The starry host, rode brightest. 

JJILTON, 

This delightful object may be justly con- 
sidered as an admirable representation of 
the day-spring from on high zchich hath 
visited us, to give light to them that sit. in 



211 

darkness and the slmdow of death , and to 
guide our feet into the way of peace** 

In the morning of life he is our preserver 
and our redeemer ; we are brought into 
communion with his church, and are en- 
lightened by the cheering influence of his 
doctrine, which alone maketh men wise 
unto salvation. By pursuing our Christian 
course with diligence, and by following 
stedfastly the direction of our Heavenly 
Counsellor, we shall experience in the even- 
ing of our days, a tranquil serenity of mind 
which will be illuminated by a steady light 
rendering our declining path smooth and 
easy into the valley of the shadow of death. 

It is thus in an immediate sense, that 
he who over cometh the world by a firm 

* Luke, i. 78 3 79, compared with Isaiah, ix. 2 9 
and Ix. 1. 

P2 



212 

{adherence to the words or instructions of 
his divine master, will be made to enjoy 
at the season when dissolving Nature stands 
in most need of consolation and support, 
the light of the morning star. His 
evening is only the prelude to a brighter 
day ; and that which appears to himself 
and others a season of still silence and aw- 
ful darkness, is in fact no more than a short 
passage from death unto life, a quick tran- 
sition from hope to enjoyment, and a ful- 
fillment of the apostolical language which 
he has often wished to make his own ; for 
now we see through a glass darkly, but 
then face to face ; now I know in part, 
but then shall I knot? even as I am known *. 

In beholding the starry orbs, the mind 
is naturally carried forwards to a different 
state of existence, and to other kinds of 



* 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 



213 

active intelligences, some ideas of which she 
embodies to her imagination by the analo- 
gies that subsist between the different lumi- 
naries. Thus, when engaged in observing 
the planet Venus, we have the same indu- 
bitable marks of its being created for the 
subsistence of animal beings as our own 
globe. She exhibits the same phases, and 
is diversified with similar spots as the moon, 

It was long doubted whether this planet 
be surrounded with an atmosphere or not; 
but this question has been completely settled 
by the accurate investigations of ® foreign 
astronomer, who has ascertained the exist- 
ence of a twilight on Venus and from 
thence has been enabled to determine the 

* M. Schroeter, of tbe Royal Society of Gottin- 
gen. His observations on the Moon and Venus, in 
tire Philosophical Transactions of London for 17Q2 9 
are extremely interesting and entertaining. 

* J 



214 

density of her atmosphere. This atmos- 
phere appears uniformly of a milky white- 
ness, and extends to a very great depth, 
which must necessarily prevent the sun 
from overpowering the inhabitants with his 
splendour and magnitude ; a circumstance 
that most powerfully manifests a providen- 
tial prevision where the artificial day, or 
the time between sun-rise and sun-set, is 
at each pole more than one hundred of our 
natural days. 

It is not known that either of these two 
inferior planets, so called from being within 
the orbit of the earth, has a satellite ; and 
though Cassini conjectured that Venus was 
furnished with one, his opinion has never 
been confirmed by subsequent observations. 
Indeed there can be no occasion for such 
attendants to those bodies, considering 
their proximity to the sun, and the power- 
ful light which they must afford to each 



215 

other. So wisely and graciously hath Pro- 
vidence distributed its blessings, as neither 
to suffer any part to be without its neces- 
saries, nor any to have superfluities, or 
things without their use and convenience. 

From the regions between our orbit and 
the sun, let us descend again to our own 
sphere, and land upon our globe, the his- 
tory and phenomena of which will be found 
to deserve attentive consideration. 

The heaven, even the heavens are the 
Lord's; but the earth hath he given to 
the children of men*. 

If a divine revelation were of no other 
service than to communicate to mankind 
the origin of the world they inhabit, and to 
record for their instruction the history of 



* Ps. cxi. 16. 

?4 



216 

its creation and primitive state, its use must 
be indispensable, and its value inestimable, 
Of themselves;, they are utterly unable to 
discover the beginning of things ; and how- 
ever skilful tb dj may be in their observa- 
tions upon the celestial bodies, or in ana- 
lysing, descriDing, and arranging the ani- 
mal, vegetable, and mineral tribes, still 
after all their researches, they could never, 
by any process of calculation or experi- 
ment, determine the age of the Earth, nor 
the manner of its original construction. 
Here is the ne plus ultra of philosophy and 
science, that after a minute examination of 
the several parts, and a discovery of the 
laws by which they are governed, the most 
scientific observer must end in hypothesis 
and conjecture respecting the origin of the 
whole. 

Various theories have, indeed, been fa* 



217 

bricated by men of active minds, to account 
for the formation of the earth, and even to 
determine its age, by suppositions drawn 
from the periods in which the different 
strata would accumulate upon each other. 

One theorist imagined the primitive chaos 
to have been a worn-out comet (k) ; ano- 
ther, that the earth was a piece of fiery- 
matter struck off from the sun by the col- 
lision of a comet, and so projected to its 
present distance, where its force being 
stopped, it commenced its revolutionary 
orbit, but being too hot for any habitable 
purpose, it remained a desart above fort j 
thousand years (I), 

Such are the extravagancies of vehement 
and unregulated genius, when it attempts 
to penetrate beyond the boundaries of hu- 
man reason, and to ascertain by philoso- 
phical conjectures, what the strict laws and 



218 

experiments of philosophy never could dis- 
cover. 

The Author of Nature alone can give us 
the history of the Creation ; and he only 
can inform us when and in what manner 
the earth, with its furniture, arose from 
nothing. Y\ ithout revelation it is utterly 
impossible for the acutest genius, or even 
an assemblage of the most scientific ob- 
servers, to form any exact system which 
shall answer the numerous difficulties that 
start up in every direction , to perplex the 
inquirer. 

"What account, for instance, can be given 
of the numerous traces that appear in every 
country, of a total alteration in the surface 
of the earth ? What satisfactory reason 
will the various theorists, who determine 
every thing without the aid of divine reve- 
lation, condescend to offer us for the pre- 



219 

gence of marine substances bedded in the 
bosoms of lofty mountains, of the extrane- 
ous fossils, or petrified remains of plants 
and animals deeply buried in the earth, and 
in countries where no such species are 
known to have existed in a natural state ? 

Here human wisdom is put to a stand, 
and with all the lights afforded by the dis- 
coveries and experiments of modern che- 
mists and mineralogists, it is utterly incap- 
able of accounting for the change which has 
evidently taken place in our globe. Every 
hypothesis that has been formed for this 
purpose is embarrassed with such difficul- 
ties as to render it unsatisfactory; and no 
theory has yet appeared, which will stand 
the full test of a philosophical examination. 

The Bible, however, determines the cu- 
rious and important problem at once; and in 
^accounting for these vestiges of an ancient 



World by the relation of an historical fact, 
it affords a plain and an irresistible evidence 
of its own divine origin* 

What no philosopher, or naturalist, could 
possibly solve, is explained to the satisfac- 
tion of the learned inquirer, as well as to 
the edification of the humble believer, in 
the history of the flood, when the foun- 
iaim of the great deep were broken up f 
and the windows of heaven were opened : 
and all flesh died that moved upon the face 
of the earth*, except those who were in 
the ark. 

* 

At the time when this history was writ- 
ten, it was impossible that any idea could 
have been formed of adapting it to scientific 
pursuits, and inquiries which were never 
thought of till many ages afterwards. 



* Gen. vii. 11 2 21. 



221 

The punishment of the antediluvian sin- 
ners, and the preservation of the righteous 
patriarch and his family for the purpose of 
peopling the new world, are related in the 
same plain, simple and concise manner as 
the preceding history of the Creation and 
the Fall. Facts only are stated, and they 
are mentioned historically; when, there- 
fore, we find from actual observation and 
universal experience, that the earth exhibits 
every where natural evidences of the truth 
of those facts which are recorded only in 
the Pentateuch, have we not an unanswer- 
able proof of the authenticity of these 
books ? 

All the wisdom and observations of men 
have failed, in assigning a legitimate cause 
for the presence of marine substances in 
quarries of stone, and the bones of animate 
•peculiar to the eastern climates, being found 



222 

at great depths in the cold regions of the 
north. Now what science cannot explain, 
the sacred history has fully cleared up, by 
telling us that the whole structure of the 
globe was changed on account of the wick- 
edness of them that dwelt thereon. 

Nor is the Mosaic history of the origin 
of the world, taking the word here in a 
limited sense, less perspicuous and satifac- 
tory. True it is, the sacred writer is con- 
cise in his description, because he was not 
engaged in delivering a philosophical report, 
but merely in recording a series of the most 
important facts for the information of the 
people, whose history formed the principal, 
though not the exclusive, part of his de- 
sign. 

Much has been written upon the Mosaic 
account of the Creation ; and infidels have 



223 

endeavoured to prove it both inconsistent 
with itself, and contradictory to the disco- 
veries and observations which have been 
jnade by modern philosophers. 

Now, as we have already seen and ad- 
mired the exact harmony which subsists 
between the revealed word of God and his 
glorious works in the visible heavens, let 
us here consider the subject of the cosmo- 
gony, and inquire whether the account with 
which the Bible opens, comports or not 
with the evidence of experience and obser- 
vation. 

The first word in the Scripture is a con- 
futation of the atheistical notion that the 
universe is eternal, or which is the same 
thing, that the matter which composes 
all substances has subsisted from all eter- 
nity. On the contrary, the sacred histo- 



2.24 

rian commences with a declaration, that 
there was a period of time, when even the 
primary matter which composes the heavens 
and the earth, began to exist at the com- 
mand of the Almighty. 

What these heavens were, the original 
iftwd imports, and various other passages 
of holy writ sufficiently explain. The word 
is used in contradistinction to the solid globe 
upon which we move, and consequently it 
denotes only that celestial fluid which is 
diffused through the whole system ; and 
which disposes and keeps in order all bodies 
surrounded by it*. 

* The plural shamim, translated in our version, 
the heavens ) literally denote the disposers , or placers 
(in which sense the word is plainly used, Isaiah, v. 
20, and Mai. ii. 2). This, says the learned Park- 
hurst, is a descriptive name of the heavens, or of 
that immense celestial fluid subsisting in the three 
conditions of fire, light, and spirit, or gross air^ 



2.25 

The infant earth is said to have beea 
without form, and void or empty, being 
completely covered with darkness, which 
is an exact representation of what the an- 
cients termed the primitive chaos. In this 
confused state of the elements, blended in 
a state of liquefaction, the spirit of God 
is said to have moved upon the face of the 
deep. Here a difficulty has been raised 
respecting the meaning of the word ren- 
dered spirit , some taking it as a declaration 
that the third person in the Holy Trinity 

which fills every part of the universe not possessed 
by other matter. This name, he adds, was first 
given by God to the celestial fluid, or air, when it 
began to act in disposing and arranging the earth 
and waters, Gen. i. 8, &c. Since that time Uiq 
sham i m (heavens) have been the great agents in 
disposing all material things in their places and 
orders, and thereby producing all those great and 
wonderful effects which are attributed to them in the 
Scriptures. —FarkhursCs II eh. Lex. p. 373. 

Q 



225 

was thus engaged in bringing forth the- 
earth from a state of confusion, and settling 
the whole in a spherical form. 

There is, however, no occasion for such 
an interpretation ; for since the word as> 
strictly means wind as spirit, it ought so to 
be understood in this place. The inspired 
writer, throughout his concise history^ 
speaks of the Creation as the immediate- 
act of the Divine Will, and every thing as 
emanating from nothing by the effect of 
his commanding w r ord. All is related in a 
simple and natural way ; and therefore 
when we read of the spirit or wind of Goo 
moving upon the face of the waters, no- 
thing more is to be imagined by it than 
that the confused and disordered material* 
were put into motion by the external agency 
of the celestial fluid already mentioned, 
which being separated from what is called 



227 

the earth, acted upon and prepared it for 
the following processes. 

Then it was that Gai> said, let there be 
light, and there was light ; which passage 
so forcibly struck one of the greatest critics 
among the ancients, that he scrupled not, 
though familiarly acquainted with the most 
elegant of the Grecian writers, to pro- 
nounce it a most elegant specimen of the 
sublime ^* 

Upon this part of the Creation, as well 
as this text, we have made some observa- 
tions under the section which treats of 
Light ; and therefore, pursuing ourcourse^ 
we enter upon the operations of the second 
day, when God said, let there be a firma** 
ment in the midst of the waters, and let 
it divide the waters from the zvaters. 

* Longinus de Sublimit, cap. yii„ 
Q2 



228 

The word firmament does not come up 
to the exact meaning of the original, which 
denotes an expansion, and admirably ex- 
presses the elastic quality of the atmo- 
sphere. This subtle fluid quickens all Na- 
ture, animal and vegetable ; and, by sepa- 
rating the waters, or extracting the mi- 
nuter particles, and collecting them into 
clouds, distils them again into refreshing 
•showers and dews upon the land. They 
drop upon the pastures of the wilderness, 
and the little hills rejoice on every side. 
The pastures are clothed with flocks ; the 
tallies also are covered over with corn ; 
they shout for joy \ they also sing*. 

T» hen the Roman philosopher concluded* 
his contemplation upon the various benefits 
of the air, by saying that it is the con- 



* Psalm Ixy. 12, 13. 



229 

nexion of heaven and earth, one would al- 
most be inclined to think, that his obser- 
vation is a paraphrastic translation of this 
part of the Mosaic history *. 

Nothing can be more agreeable to the 
nature and reason of things, than the pro- 
cess of the Creation related in the sacred 
volume ; and yet it deserves notice, that 
no attempt is therein made to explain any 
part of it, or to shew in what manner the 
different operations took place. 

Hitherto we have seen the rude chaos 
called into existence, then reduced into 
form, by a separation of the light from the. 
dark and ponderous parts; and now the 
globe is surrounded by that circumambient 
mass of air which is essentially necessary to 
all the purposes of life and vegetation. 

£ Seneca, Nat. Quasst. 1. iL c. 4. 

q3 



?30 

When this fluid body was spread out 
upon the new-formed earth, the sea and 
the land were divided, and the latter dis- 
posed in strata of various kinds ; some for 
the generation of minerals and metals, 
others for stones and fossils, but the greater 
part for the growth and nutriment of vege- 
tables* 

In the language of an elegant writer % 
the Alrriighty gave the mass itself that 
form, which made it an instrument subset 
vient to his designs. He speaks, and be- 
hold the hillocks rise, the vallies sink ; and 
his hand, in order to collect the inferior 
waters, hollows a deep reservoir, which no 
circular motion, nor any attraction or 
settling of elements whatever, could have 
ordered. 



* Le Pluclie's Hist, of the Heavens, vol. lu 
p. MS. 



The earth, laid open by the retreat of 
the waters, decks itself with an innume- 
rable multitude of plants, garnished with 
leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruits. Did the 
moisture w T hich the waters left behind 
them, produce this noble work? But 
though we should to moisture add fermen- 
tation, and perfectly well understand the 
meaning of this notable word ; though you 
should add to fermentation and moistura 
even the sun, which does not as yet appear ; 
and though you should to all these active 
causes add the repulsions and attractions, 
the central forces and gravitations; — all 
these causes united will never produce a 
plant. How shall one go about to form a 
pink or a rose, a grape or a strawberry, 
together with their forms, smells, and in- 
variable qualities; especially with a germ en 
capable of re-producing the whole, and of 
perpetuating the species from age to age, 
Q 4 



232 



without the loss of any, or the production 
new ones ? 

Philosophy, which formerly fetched all 
these wonderful works out of a small quan- 
tity of mud put in motion, at last does ho* 
mage to the physics of Moses. If there 
are upon earth twenty thousand different 
species of plant?, experience at length, in 
concert with Scripture, teaches us, that 
these are twenty thousand different works, 
made after so many different models, and 
by so many express commands. Why then 
does modern philosophy still teach us, at 
times, that we might suppose in the uni- 
verse nothing more than matter, and a 
motion spreading through its parts by vir- 
tue of impulsion only, and then undertake 
orderly to deduce from this bare supposi- 
tion all the effects we admire therein ? I 
honour much those who think so ; but I 



233 

urn afraid they have not sufficiently consi- 
dered the consequences of such a preten- 
sion. I am persuaded they have not by 
these effects understood the organized spe- 
cies, such as plants. But if their physics 
abandon them when the germ en of a gnat, 
or of the grass they tread on, is to be made; 
do they then fancy that they understand 
better what an earth, an atmosphere, a 
body of light, or the sun, are, when they 
thus presume thence to deduce the fabric 
of the principles of their system ? 

Philosophy, which at last is returned to 
the physics of Moses, when the organiza- 
tion of a grain of millet is to be explained, 
will, I hope, have recourse to the same 
physics, that is, to the special will of the 
Creator, when it is to account for the 
structure of the earth, and for its corres- 
pondence with all the parts of the uni» 



£34 

verse. It is strange that men should hesi- 
tate in this point, and rack their brains by 
long calculations, in order to fetch from 
aome supposition of a motion, or of an 
attraction, the cause that has put the sun 
in the centre of the planetary world ; that 
has provided the earth with a large mirror, 
fit to perpetuate the light of the sun upon 
it during the night ; and has given Saturn 
a luminous girdle. Here arguments, cal- 
culations, and geometry, lead unto illusory 
causes. But experience and Moses, with- 
out any fatigue or dispute, teach us the 
truth we are searching after. If it is the 
immediate hand of God, and not a small 
quantity of matter put in motion, that has 
produced the fine attire of a tulip, the 
pinking of the leaves, the green of an ane- 
mone, and the invariable nature of a grain 
of turnip-seed ; then, certainly, it is no 
longer a motion, a pressure, or a collection 



235 

of dust, but a most special Intention, that 
has regulated the dimensions of this terres- 
trial globe ; and those physics are infinitely 
rational which say, according to the com- 
mon opinion of mankind, that he who has 
prepared and constructed the flowers, has 
also formed both the garden which bears 
them, and the large reservoir which con- 
tains the liquid for watering them. 

The origin of the vegetable kingdom is 
indeed an admirable display of the divine 
wisdom ; and the account given of it in the 
sacred history agrees exactly with the ob~ 
nervations of naturalists. 

And God said, let the earth bring forth 
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the 
fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind 9 
whose seed is in itself upon the earth : and 
it was so* And the earth brought forth 



* 



236 

grass, and herb yielding seed after his 
kind , and the Hree yielding fruit zvhose 
seed teas in itself after his kind: and God 
mfa that it rcas good*" 

The expression of " yielding seed after 
their respective kinds/' implies, that the 
Alnughty not only made all the plants in a 
full and perfect state at first, but that he 
established the order of Nature, by com- 
municating to them the principle of propa- 
gating their species as long as the world 
should endure. Here also we learn, that 
the succession of future plants was provided 
for in the original seeds contained in the 
parent stock; and this is in unison with the 
discoveries which modern philosophy has 
been enabled to make, by the aid of the 
microscope. It is now ascertained, that 



* Gen. i. 11, 12, 



237 

all these seeds are the entire bodies of the 
plants in miniature ; and that ever}' one, 
however minute it be, has the same vessels, 
fibres, and fruit, which are afterwards dis- 
played in the vegetable when it arrives to 
full growth and perfection, 

Now no laws of matter and motion can 
explain the cause of this, or account for 
the origin of the seeds by which both ani- 
mal and vegetative life is continued. The 
Mosaic history was written ages before mi- 
croscopes were invented, and long before 
any theories respecting the organization of 
bodies were thought of ; and yet we find 
its plain and concise account of the con- 
struction of plants, and the order of their 
succession, established beyond all doubt, 
by the experiments and observations of the 
most inquisitive and sagacious inquirers 
into the recesses of Nature (m). 



238 

Another inspired writer has given a simi- 
lar account of the principle of vegetation, 
for the purpose of illustrating the impor- 
tant doctrine of the Resurrection, In his 
admirable discourse on this subject ad- 
dressed to the Corinthians, St. Paul ob- 
serves, that the seed thrown into the 
ground by the husbandman, is only bare 
or naked grain; but God, says he, giveth 
it a body as it hath pleased him, and to 
every seed his own body*. 

This assertion of the Apostle is sup- 
ported by all that is now known and de- 
termined with respect to the physiology of 
plants; nor is the argument which h« 
maintains, and hereby illustrates, less con- 
formable to the discoveries of modern, 
science. As the vegetable seeds contain 



* 1 Car, sv. m 



239 

the embryo plants in miniature, so is it in 
animal nature, where the succession of the 
species is still preserved and propagated in 
a similar manner. Death itself, though 
seemingly an absolute dissolution, and, in 
the opinion of some, an utter extinction of 
being, is only a change in the manner of 
existence, and a removal from one state to 
another, like the process of vegetation, or 
to the changes observable in those insects 
which successively pass from one form to 
others, each varying from the preceding 
in every quality and appearance. 

The principal objection that has been 
raised against the Mosaic cosmogony, is on 
account of the constitution of the celestial 
bodies, which are said to have been set in, 
the firmament on the fourth day. 



This is supposed to be contradictory to 



240 

reason and the observations of astrono- 
mers, since it is not probable that so stu- 
pendous a body as the sun should have 
been created after the earth, which re- 
volves around it ; and it is still more in- 
credible that the fixed stars, many of which 
are. not visible to the naked eye, should 
have been called first into existence with 
this comparatively insignificant planet. 

• 

This objection, however, is of no force ; 
because there is nothing in the text which 
necessarily implies, either that the sun 
itself was then first made, or that the stars 
began first to shine in the universe on 
the fourth day of the Creation. This 
whole process is related with a reference 
to the earth alone, and therefore, when it 
is said that the greater and lesser lights 
z^ere set in the firmament^ it means r;o 
more than this, that they then first dis- 



241 

played their brilliancy and influence upon 
the new planet. Till now, the globe was 
surrounded by an impervious atmosphere, 
sufficiently active, indeed, for the various 
uses to which it was adapted; but now, 
every thing being prepared and put in mo- 
tion, the air became transparent, and the 
glory of the heavens burst forth in full 
splendour upon the new world. 

There is more of astronomical accuracy 
in the Mosaic description, expressed as it is 
in concise terms, and those conformable to 
the popular apprehension of things, than 
appears at first sight ; for it is evident, 
that the sacred historian confines his ac- 
count of the Creation to the limits of 
the solar system, by separating the stars 
from it. He relates, in minute order, the 
various changes which took place, from the 
first appearance of the chaos to the revoliv- 



242 

tion of the earth upon its own axis, and its 
annual course round the sun ; after which 
he merely says, that the same Almighty 
Being was the Creator of the stars also. 
It is not said that they were then made, 
but that they had the same source, came 
from the same power, are under the same 
government, and have exactly the same 
uses, to be for signs, and seasons, for 
days, and years ; which most unquestion- 
ably is the case, not only in our own sys- 
tem, but throughout the innumerable sys- 
tems scattered over the universal expanse. 
Yet the language is correct and appropri- 
ate, even if it be confined to the uses of 
the heavenly bodies to our own planet. 

The expression for signs and for seasons, 
is a figure common to all languages, and 
denotes only signs of the seasons, or that 
the celestial luminaries are serviceable to 



243 

us, by pointing out the proper seasons for 
particular uses, as ploughing, sowing, plant- 
ing, and reaping. 

Again, it is said, that the sun and moon 
are for days and years; that is, they divide 
our time into the agreeable and refreshing 
vicissitudes of day and night, marking a 
regular succession of periods, by which 
men are enabled to order their affairs, and 
to cultivate the present season with a steady 
view to that which is to follow. 

Thus far the scriptural account of the 
establishment of the heavenly luminaries, 
in reference to our globe, is perfectly in- 
telligible to the most common capacity, 
and conformable to the daily experience of 
all mankind in every age and climate. 

Its object seems to have been no more 
r2 



244 

than to convince men of this great truth, 
that the benefits they derive from these 
glorious bodies, constituted a principal 
part of the design of the All-wise Creator 
of them. In an age remarkably prone to 
superstition and idolatry, when the hosts 
of heaven were supposed to be so many 
divine intelligencics, and consequently, 
were made the objects of the highest devo- 
tion and adoration, it was proper to guard 
the chosen people from the common delu- 
sion, by demonstrating that the whole 
universe, the heavens and the earth, had 
their origin from the will and word of 
God. 

If in this, or any other parts of the sa- 
cred volume, the celestial orbs are spoken 
of in a language not strictly philosophical, 
it is to be considered that the terms are, 
adapted to popular apprehension, and to 



245 

the general appearances of things. The 
same mode of speech is still used among 
scientific men, in an age eminent for its 
progress in astronomical discoveries ; and 
the vulgar acceptation of the sun's rising 
and setting, with his regular motion through 
the zodiacal signs, retains its hold in our 
conversation and books. 

Why, then, shall historical records of 
the highest antiquity be treated rigorously, 
for having adopted a form of expression 
familiar to the capacities and ideas of the 
persons for whose information and instruc- 
tion they were designed ? The object of 
Moses was, to give an account of the ori- 
gin of the world, and to record the parti- 
culars of the dispensations of God to the 
patriarchs, particularly in the call of Abra- 
ham as the father of the faithful ; it was 
not therefore to be expected, that in such. 



246 

-4 work he should choose terms and phrases 
remote iVom the customary way of speak- 
ing, and above the comprehension of the 
people whose religious edification consti- 
tuted the primary intention of his writings. 

From a consideration of the origin of 
the celestial worlds, as forming an inci- 
dental part of the history of the Creation, 
and said to have been rendered conspicuous 
on the fourth day ; let us proceed to a 
view of animated Nature, where also we 
shall find numerous proofs of the divine 
wisdom and goodness. 

The earth being now prepared, and sur- 
rounded with innumerable lights, may we 
not demand of those who pretend to be 
acquainted with the nature of the elements 
and the laws of motion, what are to be 
the consequences of this great work, and 



247 

what will be the next production of the 
Almighty Mind ? 

But no mortal understanding, nor even 
the celestial intelligences themselves, could 
form an idea, even from the rich and mag- 
nificent spectacle before them, of the na- 
ture of what was next to rise into exist- 
ence. 

The sons of God who witnessed the 
formation of the world, and admired its 
growing beauties, must have been in ex- 
pectation of what new phenomenon was 
preparing, when they beheld such a pro- 
fusion of wonders around them. They are 
struck with the beauties of the growing 
vegetation, which make the earth a para* 
dise ; but not being able to form a con- 
ception of the odour, splendour, freshness, 
and form of roses, before the divine com- 

r4 



243 

nrand has unfolded the buds of those 
flowers ; no more does their celestial sci- 
ence enable them to anticipate what is to 
succeed. All they behold is the evident 
work of divine wisdom, perfectly free in 
all its views and designs. They contem- 
plate with admiration what is already 
made; and they may, perhaps, compre- 
hend the correspondence of the works of 
Cod when they are completed. But in 
that period of the Creation, none but him- 
self could form any idea what order or 
variety of things was next to spring up for 
his glory. 

What a surprise to them, and what 
ground for praise to the Eternal Wisdom, 
when, after the production of so many ex- 
cellencies, they beheld a multitude of ac- 
tive beings, having a voluntary motion, 
and freely roving according to their incli- 



249 

nations ; some in the air, others in the 
waters, and a vast variety dispersed in thq 
plains and upon the hills. 

To adopt the language of an elegant and 
ingenious writer, it would be an employ- 
ment worthy of the angels, and a philoso- 
phy in every respect truly satisfactory, to 
be able to conceive the intentions and 
liberalities of the Eternal Wisdom, by a 
constant study of the particulars of all 
these animals, in a knowledge of their 
birth, habitations, polity, anatomy, and 
various utilities. But instead of praising 
the Creator for these wonders, the ancient 
philosophers, with the whole extent of 
their intelligence, endeavoured to make 
mankind believe, that the application of a 
substantial form to a mass of mud and the 
primitive matter, occasioned a vivifying 
power, which produced all the variety of 



250 

animals. Some of the moderns, too, ivho 
ought to have known better, as having a 
certain source of information, have pre- 
sumptuously endeavoured to account for 
the organization of animals, as well as 
plants, upon mechanical principles. But 
after all their calculations and reasonings, 
they are incapable of constructing a single 
germen, or of managing the nerves. 

If, then, we wish to trace things to 
their true origin, let us learn from that 
philosopher and historian who, above three 
thousand years ago, taught that the earth 
and its elements, the heaven and its orna- 
ments ; the light and the atmosphere, the 
excavation of the vase of the ocean, and 
the rising of the habitable lands ; all the 
tribes of animals, and the numerous spe- 
cies of plants — in short, whatever exists, 
owes its being and form to one single cause, 



251 

to one Eternal Intelligence, who by so 
many express commands, has assigned to 
each individual part of Nature its proper 
place, virtue, and organs. 

But for whom are all these preparations ? 
for whom is this magnificent habitation 
designed ? According to the same history 
we find, that the finishing stroke in this 
great work of Creation, was the effect of a 
deliberate council: And God said, let us 
make man in our image after oar like* 
ness. All things were wisely created, and 
the habitation was completely furnished, 
before the representative of the Divine In- 
telligence was called into being, to have 
the dominion over all the earth. 

Nothing more shall be produced therein 
throughout all ages. The philosophers, 
indeed, are in- suspense and divided on this 



point ; but let us consult experience. Ele- 
ments constantly the same ; species which 
never vary ; seeds and germina prepared 
to perpetuate every thing ; assemblages, 
nutritions, and dissolutions, which change 
in appearance every day, yet so that the 
same modifications continually recur ; con- 
firming the declaration of the wisest of 
men, There is nothing new under the sun. 
Now this great truth, which the experi- 
ence of ages has established^ the legislator 
of the Hebrews decided in these few words: 
On the seventh day, God ended his work 
"which he had made ; and rested on tht 
seventh day from all his work. 

Prom that time the world has revolved. 
All is in motion on the earth, and within 
its deepest recesses. All is unfolded, 
nourished, and continued upon its surface. 
The supplies of the inanimate masses, and 



253 

©f the living species, are thereon dispersed, 
.separated, reunited, and mingled, accord- 
ing to constant and simple laws, whereby 
God has for ever regulated the effects of 
motion. He has provided for every thing 
to the remotest period. All proceeds from 
him as from the immediate cause ; nor will 
ever motion, or the hand of man, or any 
other conceivable means, be able, through 
the long series of years, to add to God'a 
works either the least of worms, or the 
minutest grain of earth or metal ; because 
a worm and an elementary particle are na- 
tures known to him alone, and because, 
moreover, he has entered into his rest 9 
with regard to the construction of all thajt 
is necessary for the duration of this world, 

This is a philosophy far more satisfac- 
tory to the inquiring mind, than that 
which would explain every thing by lines 



254 

and numbers, and by the mechanical prin- 
ciples, or the laws of matter and motion. 
These may indeed be used in the way of 
conjecture and hypothesis, to account for 
the general order of the universe ; but the 
knowledge of motion is not the knowledge 
of the Creation* 

Any system of physics, in which the 1 
various means prepared to preserve the 
world, are regarded as the original causes 
of the several parts of Nature, is a devi- 
ation from truth; since it refers the origin 
and formation of every thing to such causes 
as can produce nothing, and dries up 
our hearts, by substituting an imaginary 
mechanism for the intention and will of 
the Almighty. 

Moses, on the contrary, after having 
acquainted man with his obligations to 



255 

God, by informing him that whatever is 
in the heavens, on the earth, in the sea, 
and in the air, has its nature, place, and 
degree of excellence, immediately from the 
Fountain of Being ; — after having made us 
sensible, by an enumeration of the works 
of God in the Creation, that they were 
prepared for man, the sacred historian 
then inspires us with humility, by saying 
that God took of the dust of the ground, 
and therewith formed the body of man. 
This truth also, like all the preceding ones, 
is still confirmed by daily experience. 
When the body of man is dissolved after 
death, there remains of it nothing more 
than what constituted its primitive basis — 
nought and dust ; such is the origin and 
the term of our terrestrial existence. 

Equally pious and excellent is the con- 
clusion of the same writer : " The palpable; 



'256 

" difference whfeh I find between the phi- 
" losophy of Moses and the physics of the 
" moderns is, that Moses, in conformity 
" with experience, leads me to the truth 
" which I want, by shewing me, that 
" whatever is upon the earth came out of 
" the hands of God, and was put there to 
€ f serve and exercise man. He renders me 
" grateful, active, and happy ; whereas 
" the pretended great naturalists, by attri- 
" buting every thing to matter put in mo- 
" tion, murder the time of their disciples, 
" and torture their brains with an unintel- 
" ligible system, in which nothing is con- 
" nected with the wisdom of the Almighty; 
" nothing inspires the heart with a grate- 
" ful sentiment ; but in which every thing 
" is represented as being done without 
" God, and without any view to man*/' 



* Le Pluclie, ubi supra* 



There is nothing, then, in the history 
of the Creation, as given by Moses, that 
can be reasonably objected to, on the 
ground that the actual state of any part of 
the universal system contradicts what is 
said of the origin and formation of the 
world in the book of Genesis. 

Into the construction and natures of 
things, men may properly and laudably 
carry their inquiries as minutely as they 
please ; but when they have discovered 
the elementary principles, and the laws by 
which they act, they can go no farther 
without presumption, unless revelation be 
taken for their guide. Though the Al- 
mighty at the beginning organized all 
things, and established a system for the 
preservation and continuance of what was 
originally created; he was not himself 
bound by those laws, nor restrained to 



25S 

that peculiar order of things. The me- 
chanical principles by which regularity is 
maintained throughout the universe, are 
not, as too many have fatally supposed* 
so essential to matter, as that different 
laws could not have been settled by the 
great Creator. Tins resting in second 
causes, has led many into scepticism, and 
from thence to atheism ; for if matter has 
certain inherent powers of action and re- 
action, by which it becomes necessarily 
organized and active, as we see it in innu- 
merable forms and circumstances, it will 
be difficult to say that matter is not eter- 
nal. The philosophy of Scripture has care- 
fully guarded us against this dangerous 
conclusion, by expressly declaring, that 
the very matter of the universe had a be- 
ginning at the divine command, which- 
impressed upon it those laws unci powers 
which we are enabled to observe,, and also 



259 

the secret qualities which have hitherto 
eluded the researches of philosophy. 

The doctrine of the immortal Newton 
may here be safely adopted, as perfectly 
agreeable to the Mosaic history of the 
Creation. According; to him, " God Al- 
"mighty, at the beginning, created just 
" such a quantity of matter as is propor- 
" tioned to the space in which it was in- 
" tended to move; that the original par- 
66 tides of this matter are solid, impene- 
" trable, and very durable ; that they are 
" of a particular form and size, being en- 
" dued also with particular laws of motion, 
" from the various texture and composition 
" of which arise those different kinds of 
" bodies of which this world is consti- 
" tuted*." 



* Optics, page 409. 



260 

AVe see then that true philosophy, after 
all its inquiries and observations, resolves 
itself at last in humble acquiescence to the 
will and power of God, as displayed in 
his works and revealed in his word. 

'It is a mortification to human wisdom, 
that every new discovery only serves to 
prove our ignorance, by opening new mys- 
teries which elude our inquiry ; and that 
though the means of investigation are im- 
proved daily by scientific skill and indus- 
try", there still remain innumerable secrets 
which no experiment can analyze, nor any 
theory explain. Justly mav the words of 
the wise man.be here applied : The thoughts 
of mortal men are miserable, and our de- 
vices are but uncertain. For the corrup- 
tible body presseth down the soul, and the 
earthly tabernacle weigheth down the, mind y 
that museih upon, many things* And 



261 

hardly do we guess aright at things that 
are before us ; but the things that are in 
heaven, who hath searched out * ? 

Similar to this is the reasoning of a very 
pious and ingenious philosopher of our na- 
tion. 

" In respect to the globe/' says he, " as 
" there are a great many plants and ani- 
" mals, as well as minerals, which we 
" know nothing of, so these things we arq 
" employed about belong only to the shell, 
" or the superficial part of the globe ; but 
*■ what is contained within we know not. 
" Some think the internal part of the globe 
" is elementary earth ; others think it fiery, 
" and the place of hell; others place in 
" the centre a great magnet ; and the Car- 



* Wisd. ix. 14—1(5. 



"262 

" tesians say, that the globe was once a 
" fixed star ; and though degenerated into 
" a planet, it hath still the same nature, 
" being only covered over with dark spots, 
" which condensing, formed the earth we 
" live on ; all which opinions are as hard 
" to prove false as true : for as it is reck- 
44 oned three thousand five hundred miles 
44 to the centre of the earth, we have not 
t: yet been able to penetrate above a mile 
44 or two downwards, either into the earth 
44 or sea. And of those vast luminous bo- 
44 dies above us we know much less, since 
4i we cannot be certain of their magnitude 
M or distance, there being no parallaxes 
44 observed in the fixed stars, whereby they 
41 can be measured. So that our know- 
" ledge is very short and shallow ; for the 
u disproportion of the heavens is so great, 
44 that some think the earth to be but a 
^ point in respect of the rest ; and others, 



263 

66 that the great orb itself is but as a point 
" in comparison of the firmament. Nay/* 
concludes this excellent man, " we are ig- 
" norant cf so many things relating to th§ 
" bodies above and below us, that our 
" knowledge seems confined to a very small 
66 part of that physical point ; and tliere- 
" fore, though our knowledge may highly 
ff gratify our minds, it ought not to make 
" us proud ; nor ought we to value that, 
£j so as to make us despise the knowledge 
pf spiritual things %" 

Are then the pursuits of science to be 
neglected, and an inquiry into the recesses 
of Nature to be discouraged ? By no 
means : the language of inspiration assures 
us, that the works of the Lord are great, 
sought out of all them that have pleasure 

* Boyle's Excellence of Theology abo vc Natural 
Philosophy, section iii. 

s 4 



264 

(herein : his work is honourable and glo- 
rious, and his righteousness endureih for 
ever. He hath made hts wonderful works 
to be remembered*, or to be meditated 
upon and diligently inquired into. 

The commendation bestowed upon Solo- 
mon, on account of the vast extent of bis 
knowledge in natural history, as well as in 
divinity, morals, and the art of govern- 
ment, sufficiently proves^ that human learn- 
ing and scientilic researches are among the 
higher employments of man. 

When our Lord sent his disciples for in- 
struction to the lilies and the grass of the 
field, with a direction to consider them 
carefully, as displaying the power and wis- 
dom of God in their creation, he was so 



* Psalm cxi. 2, 3, 4. 



265 

far from discountenancing a spirit of inquiry 
into the secrets of Nature, that his lan- 
guage is an evident encouragement to thajt 
branch of study. 

Indeed the Holy Scriptures throughout 
abound with so many allusions to the won- 
ders of God in the heavens, the earth, and 
the sea, that we may safely pronounce the 
dose and frequent contemplation of these 
objects, necessary to an enlarged and exact 
understanding of the volume of Divine 
Revelation. 

Let us then pursue our course, with a 
/steady adherence to this heavenly guide, 
but availing ourselves of all the lights and 
improvements afforded by the observations 
and discoveries of modern philosophy. 



Of the superior planets, or those which 



266 

are placed beyond our orbit, the nearest 
to us is Mars ; and yet it is remarkable, 
that our knowledge of this body is much 
less than what we possess of those at the 
remotest distance. Its appearance suffi- 
ciently indicates a variety on its surface, 
similar to what is found on our own globe ; 
and the revolution which it has on its own 
axis answering nearly to our day, may 
satisfy us that it is not a solitary desart in 
the system. 

The ancients were acquainted with the 
two larger bodies beyond Mars, Jupiter 
and Saturn, although they were ignorant 
of the peculiar phenomena which apper* 
tained to them. 

Within the last seven years, however, 
there have been discovered no less than 
four new bodies revolving in regular orbits 



267 

round the sun, next beyond the planet 
Mars, and to which have been given the 
names of Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta. 

Considering the numerous observations 
which have been made upon the starry 
heavens since the invention of the tele- 
scope, is it not surprising that these pla* 
nets should have so long escaped the in^ 
quisitive scrutiny of astronomers ? and 
does it not equally deserve notice, that 
they should all be added to the store of our 
scientific knowledge within so short a space 
of time ? 

It may perhaps be treated as a chimeri- 
cal fancy, to regard these small orbs as 
being literally new in our system ; yet if 
the Mosaic account of the cosmogony be 
confined solely to the creation of the earth, 
and the placing it in the solar system 5 as 



263 

seems now to he universally agreed, then 
what reason have we to conclude that the 
work of creation does not perpetually go 
on ? May not the Almighty cause new' 
planetary bodies to be occasionally formed, 
and the old ones, in their allotted periods, 
to decay and perish ? If so, then is the 
discovery of every new star a warning 
voice, announcing the removal of others ; 
though perhaps not immediately, yet cer- 
tainly at the time appointed in the coun- 
sels of the Most High, who sitteth upon 
the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants 
{hereof are as grasshoppers before him ; 
that strctcheth out the heavens as a cur- 
tain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to 
dwell in*. The same sublime portion of 
prophetic Scripture thus directs us to con- 
template the wonderful order, splendour, 



* Isaiah, xl, 22, 



269 

and variety of the celestial orbs : Lift up 
your eyes on high, and behold who hath 
created these things that bringeth out their 
host by number : he caileth them all by 
their names; because he is strong in por&er, 
not one faileth to appear. But what is 
the conclusion, and what is the great point 
of instruction to which the view of this 
grand spectacle leads us ? Lift up your 
eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth 
beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away 
like smoke, and the earth shall zcaa 1 old 
like a garment, and they that dwell therein 
shall die in like manner*. 

As the leaves fall off in autumn, so do 
the generations of men drop into the grave, 
and so in their several periods shall this 
earth, and all the planets, fade away, and 



* Isaiab, li. 6. 



270 

vanish like smoke ; — each of them, how- 
ever, will he succeeded by another series 
of things, and a new order of beings, to 
proclaim the majesty of Him whose salva- 
tion is for ever, and whose righteousness 
shall not he abolished. 

AVho can behold the x r ast structure and 
admirable furniture of the remoter globe* 
in our system, without a strong conviction 
of the wisdom and goodness of the Divine 
Architect, in adapting every part of the 
System for the convenience and comfort of 
rational creatures ? Al though at an im- 
mense distance, and assisted only by in- 
struments comparatively of very modern 
invention, we are yet enabled to observe 
the regular periods of four satellites revolv- 
ing around the planet Jupiter, five about; 
Saturn, and at least two about the Georgian 
planet.. 



Til 

The eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter 
are of great importance in ascertaining the 
longitude of places upon our earth. If, 
then, the attendants of that planet are of 
such remote, or, as we may sai^ casual 
utility to the inhabitants of a globe so far 
distant from it, are they of none to the- 
primary body around which they periodi- 
cally move ? We are sensible of the 
beauty, and feel the advantages and com- 
forts, of our own lunar orb ; whence we 
most naturally conclude, that those pi a-* 
nets which are supplied with a greater 
number of these attendants, all present- 
ing similar phases, experience the same 
benefits from them as we receive from our 
moon. 

It is observable, that the motion, of 
these secondary planets is so directed, that 
every satellite by degrees makes its visit 



272 

towards each pole of its primary, or (he 
globe around which it revolves. " Here- 
" by/' says a learned and pious writer, 
" these secondaries effect some of the grand 
u works of the Divine Providence from 
" pole to pole, illuminate all parts of their 
" respective globes, contract the length of 
" their nights, move their waters, excite 
66 their tides, and perform other such great 
" works of Nature, as with good reason 
" we attribute to the influence of our moon 
" here on our globe. 

" And/' as he well observes, u can such 
" well-contrived, such useful motions, with- 
" out which the world could not subsist, 
" and the works of Nature be carried on 
" — can these be other than the effect of* 
" an infinitely beneficent as well as wise 
" Creator ? Could this consonancy be so 
** universal among all the globes that fait 



273 

ei within our view ; could their periods and 
" distances be in the same due proportion 
fic throughout the universe, and their mo- 
" tions be all so alike, if they had not the 
" same contriver and maker* ?" 

But of all the planets, Saturn is the 
most remarkable, having a form peculiar 
to itself. The ring which surrounds the 
body is detached from it ; and though very 
broad, and casting the solar light strongly 
upon the planet, it is comparatively thin, 
because the edge reflects hardly any light. 
On this singular subject, its admirable con- 
trivance and utility, the learned author 
just mentioned makes the following obser- 
vations : 

" Its smoothness and aptitude to reflect 



* Derham's AstrovTheology, b. iv. c> 5. 
T 



274 

" light and heat, is a wonderful conveni- 
" ence. Was it full of mountains, and 
" rallies, and of waters too, as in our 
" earth, the reflection would be too weak 
" to render, the ring visible to us, at so 
" great a distance as we are ; but perceiv- 
" ing its light to be so lively and strong, 
" as to Tender both itself and Saturn very 
" illustrious, it is a demonstration of the 
" aptitude of its structure and smoothness 
" for the reflection of light and heat to 
" the planet it serves. 

" As the periodical revolutions of the 
" earth are an excellent and providential 
" contrivance, for those useful and neces- 
" sary mutations we have of the seasons of 
" the year, so no doubt but the same be- 
" nefits accrue hy these revolutions which 
" Saturn hath about the sun. It is visible 
" that, as Saturn changes its place in its 



275 

" orbit, so its ring receives a variety of 
66 aspects, not only with respect to us, but 
" to the sun. Thus in one part of the 
" orbit it appears with a large ellipsis, so 
" as to exhibit a great space between it 
" and Saturn : in another part with a lesser 
" ellipsis, and sometimes has only a slen- 
" der straight line, and sometimes it is not 
" visible at all ; also, sometimes one side 
" of the ring is enlightened, and reflects 
" light towards one part of Saturn, some- 
" times the other enlightens another part : 
" and there is no doubt, but that as our 
" earth has its seasons according to its po- 
9. sition to the sun, and its periodical mo- 
" tion in its orbit ; so Saturn, throughout 
" his period, hath his seasons according 
" to his position to the sun, and the va- 
" rious reflections of the ring upon the se- 
" veral parts of his globe*." 

* Derham, b. vii. c, 7. 
t2 



276 

This ring casts a prodigious shadow upon 
the body of the planet, and thereby occa- 
sions a great diversity of light and darkness 
thereon. To the inhabitants of Saturn it 
must appear as an extensive bow in the 
heavens, bright as our moon at the extre- 
mities, and darkened in the middle by the 
shadow of the planet's body. It has been 
observed, by some spots on the ring, that 
it has a revolutionary motion upon itself 
in the manner of a satellite, the uses of 
which no doubt it answers in a variety of 
respects: but considering that Saturn is 
attended by five large and regular moons, 
one of which is uncommonly brilliant, it is 
reasonable to suppose that this remarkable' 
appendage is calculated for more extensive 
benefit, than to reflect light upon the pri- 
mary globe which it surrounds. 



Trom the immense distance and appa- 



277 

rent smallness of the Georgian planet, dis- 
covered by Dr. Herschel, we are unable to 
perceive any peculiarities belonging to it; 
but as it is accompanied by two satellites 
at least, the nature of the planet must be 
Similar to those which are nearer to the 
common centre ( n) . Yet when we con- 
template the glories of the great source of 
light and heat, and consider the comforts 
we enjoy from his presence and influence, 
we may perhaps look upon the remote re- 
gions and boundaries of our system with a 
degree of wonder and concern. But when 
we reflect upon the varieties of climate in 
our own globe, and take a view of the in** 
habitants of Greenland and Kamtschatka, 
we shall see no reason to conclude that 
the superior planets, or their attendants, 
are destitute of intelligent beings, adapted 
to their situation. 

T 3 



278 

The people of Borneo or Madagascar, 
may as well pity the condition of those 
Europeans who live half the year among 
snow and ice, and for the space of near 
two months never see the sun at all, as the 
inhabitants of this earth feel astonishment 
at the circumstances of those who reside in 
Jupiter, Saturn, and the Georgian pla- 
net. 

The Laplander, so far from feeling un- 
easiness in his residence, may probably 
wonder how men can endure the burning 
heat of a vertical sun ; and in like manner, 
if the inhabitants of Jupiter have a sight 
of this earth, they may entertain just such 
an opinion of our intolerable heat, as we 
imagine to be endured by those who dwell 
in Venus and Mercury, 

It has been well observed , that since 



279 

we find the earth to agree with the rest of 
the planets in every thing concerning which 
we have any means of inquiry, it is but 
reasonable to suppose, that it does the 
same in those things of which it is impos- 
sible for us, by any other certain way, to 
have an assurance. If we observe a parti- 
cular engine in one country, and afterward 
in a distant land see another, agreeing 
with the former in all things as far as we 
are able to discover ; though we are not 
informed of its design and use, we yet very 
naturally believe that it serves to the same 
purpose, and was intended for the same 
end, as the one of which we had a pre- 
vious knowledge. Thus by the same way 
of reasoning we may fairly conclude, to 
what uses all the planets serve, and on 
what general designs Providence makes 
use of them, namely, to be the habitations 
of animals, and the seats of such plants as 
t 4 



280 

are necessary or convenient for their sup- 
port and sustenance. This being certainly 
known of the earth, and thence probably 
inferred with respect to the rest of the pla- 
nets, it appears evident, that a circular 
orbit is the most fit and proper for these 
purposes, and consequently this was the 
original situation of the planets, and the 
primary work of Providence in ordering 
their courses. Such creatures, rational, 
sensitive, or vegetative, as are adapted to 
a certain degree of the solar heat, are in- 
commoded by one that is greater or less ; 
and therefore they are peculiarly accom- 
modated by a circular orbit to their nature 
and condition, which could not be the case 
if it was eccentric* 

This being the case, we have no reason 



* Whiston's Theory of the Earth, 3d ed. p. 126. 



281 

to Suppose that Mercury is too fiery a 
globe for the residence and comfort of 
creatures adapted to their situation ; nor 
that Saturn and the Georgian planet, 
with their secondaries, are desolate regions, 
locked up in eternal ice and snow, serving 
for no other purpose than to excite the 
curiosity and observation of man. 

But it may be asked, to what ends an- 
swer those remarkable bodies which revolve 
in stated periods about the sun, but in 
such eccentric ellipses, that at one time 
they are nearer to the solar orb than even 
Mercury, and at another time beyond the. 
known limits of our system ? 

Here, indeed, conjecture is at a stand, 
and inquiry is confined to a very narrow 
compass. All that has been ascertained 
of the nature and order of comets is, that 



282 

they are opaque bodies enlightened by the 
sun, and distinguished by an immense 
stream of light issuing from their heads, 
supposed by Newton to be a thin vapour, 
occasioned by the heat of that part of the 
comet, in tha same manner as smoke arises 
from the earth. Another hypothesis on 
this subject is, that part of the matter 
which forms the tails of comets issues from 
their own atmosphere, rarefied by heat, 
and driven forward by the force of the light 
streaming from the sun ; and that a co- 
met passing through the sun's atmosphere, 
is drenched therein, and carries away some 
of that substance with it. This last opi- 
nion, which is that of Lalande, is built 
upon the conjecture of Newton, and serves 
to support his other notion, that the co- 
mets serve to recruit the expence of the 
atmospheres of the planets, as well as of 
that of the sun itself. 



283 

It is well known that not only the an- 
cients, but many moderns, have looked 
upon these celestial bodies as ominous of 
great public calamities and revolutions ; 
and our sublime poet has drawn from hence 
one of the loftiest and most terrific figures 
in his immortal work. 

On th' other side, 
Incens'd with indignation, Satan stood, 
Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd, 
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge 
I' th' arctic sky, and from his horrid air, 
Shakes pestilence and war. 

WILTON; PAR. L. ii. 708* 

The superstitious notion, however, that 
comets have any influence upon the affairs 
of men, is now disregarded, except by the 
vulgar ; neither can they be considered as 
special messengers of the divine judgments, 
since the accurate observations of Newton 



284 

and Halley ; the former illustrious philo- 
sopher having geometrically constructed 
the orbit of the great comet which ap- 
peared in l()80, and proved that it de- 
scribed equal areas in equal times. From 
this theory, Dr. Halley undertook the 
immense labour of calculating the places 
of comets ; and on comparing his compu- 
tations thence deduced, he found them to 
agree with the observations of the comets 
in 1531, 1C07, and 1682. This induced 
him to conclude, that these could be no 
other than one and the same ; and there- 
fore he confidently predicted its return in 
1758 or 1759, which accordingly hap- 
pened, 

Thus has been determined the sagacious 
conjecture, or philosophical prediction, of 
Seneca on this subject : " The time will 
" come/ 3 says he, " when the nature of 



285 

comets and their magnitudes will be de- 
" monstrated, and the routes they take, 
es so different from those of the planets, 
" shall be explained. Posterity will thea 
46 wonder that the preceding ages should 
4< have been ignorant of matters so plain 
" and easy to be known." 

It was the opinion of Winston, that the 
universal deluge was occasioned by the 
passing of the earth through the atmo- 
sphere of a comet ; and the same ingenious 
but eccentric writer makes comets to be 
places of punishment for the wicked, and 
the instrumental cause of the final destruc- 
tion of the world. In all this, however, 
there is nothing more than conjecture ; 
but from the analogy observable between 
the periodical times of the planets and 
those of the comets, no doubt can be en- 
tertained that they are necessary parts of 



2S6 

the same system, having their relative and 
particular degrees of utility, wisely adapted 
by the Creator for the general good, and 
sen ing to shew forth his glory. 

At his command, affrighting human kind, 
Comets drag on their blazing lengths behind : 
Nor, as we think, do they at random rove, 
But in determin'd times, thro' long ellipses move : 
And tho' sometimes they near approach the sun, 
Sometimes behind our system's orbit run j 
Throughout their race they act their Maker's will, 
His power declare, his purposes fulril. 

BAKER. 



287 



FIXED STARS. 



■On Nature's Alps I stand, 



And see a thousand firmaments beneath ; 
A thousand systems as a thousand grains ! 
Each of these stars is a relisrious house. 



YOUNG) 



The spheres or orbits of the planetary 
globes, immense as their circuit must be, 
are embosomed in that beautiful and mag- 
nificent expanse the firmament, which ca- 
nopies the whole of visible space, and is 
also the seat of the fixed stars. It is not 
a solid body, as its appearance seems to 
uidicate, but a fluid of a deep blue colour* 



288 

exquisitely pure. On this dark ground or 
plane, all those shining worlds which roll 
incessantly over our heads in variegated 
lustre and combinations, are projected. 

The question here is, not what the 
learned in the different ages of literature or 
successive improvements of science have 
conceived of the firmament, but what the 
appearance of it actually is to those who 
have not the advantage of either letters or 
philosophy. We see it every where bound- 
ing our view, stretched out as a curtain, 
as one vast ornamented dome, or as the 
concave of a mighty elevated sphere divided 
into two equal parts. This seems to us 
perfectly uniform ; and in a clear night, 
when the moon leaves our horizon, it pre- 
sents a sight so magnificent, that no ra- 
tional being can contemplate it without 
deep and solemn attention. 



289 

With a spectacle of such ample and im- 
portant research perpetually before the 
eyes of mankind, their faculties of inquiry 
could not lie dormant. The stars were in- 
consequence classed into certain degrees of 
magnitude, and arranged in portions, or 
divided into various sections, properly 
termed constellations. 

This was the more necessary, on account 
of their apparent numbers, and promis- 
cuous distribution through every quarter 
of the heavens. Perhaps not more than a 
thousand or fifteen hundred are actually 
visible to the naked eye ; but even these 
seem for the most part to set calculation 
at defiance, from their variety in magni- 
tude and situation, their extreme altitude, 
aqd different degrees of lustre. 



No mode of measurement has yet beeu 



290 

devised for ascertaining the exact distance 
of these elevated bodies from us. That it 
is prodigious, however, cannot be doubted, 
since the largest in the whole firmament 
Seems not at all increased by our coming 
nearer to it, by one hundred and ninety- 
five millions of miles in one point of the 
earth's orbit, or in the least diminished by 
receding from it in the opposite point to 
an equal distance. Well may imagination 
run wild, where the scope is so unbounded ! 
The whole expanse of space, to an immea- 
surable extent in the interior of the hea- 
vens, is probably full of these magnificent 
worlds ; and some of them are even sup- 
posed to be at such a distance from our 
-earth, that their light, which travels at the 
Tate of ten millions of miles in a minute,, 
has not reached us since the creation. 



Neither have our most powerful instru* 



291 

tnents any sensible effect on the figure or 
bulk of those remote orbs. They may in- 
crease the . numbers of them, but cannot 
augment their apparent magnitudes. The 
circuit of our earth, or even the space oc- 
cupied by the whole planetary system, 
beheld from a fixed star, would appear no 
;more than a point, or, indeed, no part of 
it would be perceptible, except our sun, 
and even this would seem only a small, 
twinkling, lucid point. All of them must 
therefore shine by their own native lustre : 
for the rays of the sun, transmitted to 
mch a distance, could not be visible ; and 
light from bodies perfectly opaque, thus 
remotely situated, could never reach our 
globe. 

Sir Isaac Newton proposes it as a query, 
fC whether the sun and fixed stars are not 
" great earths made vehemently hot, whoss 
u2 



292 

" parts are kept from fuming away by the 
" vast weight and density of their super- 
44 incumbent atmospheres, and whose heat 
" is preserved by the prodigious action 
" and re-action of their parts upon one 
li another ?* 

Dr. Ilerschel makes the following inte- 
resting observations on this sublime sub- 
ject : " That stars are suns can hardly ad- 
" mit of a doubt. Their immense distance 
" would perfectly exclude them from our 
" view, if the light they send us w r ere not 
*' of the solar kind. Besides, the analogy 
" may be traced much farther. The sun 
u turns upon its axis ; so do many stars, 
*' most probably all. From what other 
44 cause can we so probably account for 
" their periodical changes ? Again, our 
44 sun has spots on its surface ; so have the 
44 stars already alluded to, and probably 



293 

** every star in the heavens. On our sun 
" these spots are changeable ; so they are 
" on several stars. Bat if stars are suns, 
" and suns are inhabitable, we see at once 
" what an extensive field for animation 
" opens itself to our view, 

" It is true that analogy may induce usl 
xc to conclude, that since stars appear to be 
" suns, and suns, according to the common 
" opinion, are bodies that serve to enlighten, 
" warm, and sustain a system of planets * 
** we may have an idea of numberless 
" globes, that serve for the habitation of 
" living creatures. But if these suns 
" themselves are primary planets, we may 
* c see some thousands of them with our 
" own eyes, and millions by the help of 
" telescopes ; when at the same time, the 
" same analogical reasonings still remain 
uS 



294 

in full force with regard to the planets 

which these suns may support. 

"Among the great number of very com- 
pressed clusters of stars I have given 
in my catalogues, there are -some which 
open a different view of the heavens to 
us. The stars in them are so very close 
together, that notwithstanding the great 
distance at which we may suppose the 
cluster itself to be, it \\ ill hardly be pos- 
sible to assign any sufficient mutual dis- 
tance to the stars composing the cluster, 
to leave room for crouding in those pla- 
nets for wnose support these stars have 
been, or might be, supposed to exist. 
It should seem therefore highly pro- 
bable, that they exist for themselves : 
and are in fact only very capital, lucid, 
primary planets, connected together in 
one great system of mutual support." 



295 

However numerous and magnificent the 
luminaries of heaven appear to the unassisted 
eye, their number rises above all possible 
calculation by the application of optical in- 
struments. By these helps, stars of every 5 
magnitude and description burst on our 
view in countless myriads ! The more 
perfect and powerful these instruments, the 
more prodigious and endless is the quan- 
tity of celestial objects that present them- 
selves. Imagination is overwhelmed by an 
expanse without boundaries, and spangled 
with luminaries which exceed all computa- 
tion. Telescopic stars, as they are. called, 
in some constellations particularly are 
multiplied to an indefinite extent ; but the 
average of former astronomers is infinitely 
exceeded by the discoveries of modern 
times. Many stars which in ordinary 
glasses appear single, when beheld through 
the magnifying tube are found to consist 

u 4 



296 

of two or more. The galaxy, or milky 
way, owes all its richness and lustre to an 
immense assemblage of stars, which, how- 
ever far apart in reality, or whatever are 
their respective magnitudes, are much too 
remote, with all our optical apparatus, to 
be specifically discerned. Variety of 
bulce, or small whitish specks, are also ob- 
servable by competent telescopes, in a se- 
rene night, spread over a great part of the 
firmament. A small part of the pheno- 
mena lately discovered was formerly known, 
which shews the advantage of the superior 
instruments now in use, and leaves us in 
hopes that, by the successive labours of 
learned men, still mors extensive discove- 
ries will be made in this wonderful science. 
Dr. Herschel, to whose profound investi- 
gation we owe so much of our present 
knowledge of the universe, specifies a pe- 
liar class of nebula^ which he calls plane- 



297 

iary, on account of their brightness, and 
shining with a well-defined disk. 

" A very remarkable circumstance," says 
be, " attending the nebulae and clusters of 
" stars is, that they are arranged into 
" strata, which seem to run on to a great 
" length ; and some of them I have already 
<c been able to pursue, so as to guess pretty 
" well at their form and directions. It is 
" probable enough, that they may sur- 
" round the whole apparent sphere of the 
" heavens, not unlike the milky way, which 
" undoubtedly is nothing but a stratum of 
" fixed stars. And as this latter immense 
" starry bed is not of equal breadth or 
" lustre in every part, nor runs on in one 
" straight direction, but is curved, and 
" even divided into two streams along a 
u very considerable portion of it ; we may 
<{ likewise expect the greatest variety in 



298 

H the strata of the clusters of stars and 
" nebulae. One of these nebulous beds is 
u so rich, that, in passing through a sec- 
66 tion of it, in the time of only thirty-six 
" minutes, I detected no less than thirty-- 
" one nebula?, variously arranged ; large 
" ones with small seeming attendants : nar- 
" row but much extended lucid nebulae, 
" or bright dashes: some of the shape of a 
M fan, resembling an electric brush issuing 
" from a lucid point ; others of the cometic 
" shape, with a seeming nucleus in the 
" centre ; or like cloudy stars, surrounded 
* c with a nebulous atmosphere : a different 
" sort again contain a nebuiosity of the 
<s milky kind, like that wonderful mexpli- 
" cable phenomenon about Ononis, while 
u others shine with a fainter mottled kind 
" of light, which denotes their being re- 
* 6 solvable into stars*/' 



* Philosophical Transactions, 1781, p. 442. 



My improvement or application of thes^ 
sublime conceptions is thus happily antici- 
pated by an author of distinguished taste 
and science " What a magnificent idea 
" of the Creator and his works is here pre- 
" sented to the imagination ! The sun, a 
'^stupendous body of fire, is placed in the 
" centre of the system, and round its orb 

the planets, satellites, and comets, per-* 
" form their revolutions with an order and 
" regularity which must fill our minds 
" with the most exalted conceptions of 
" their Divine Original. Who can con- 
" template the magnitudes and distances 
" of these immense bodies, and the beau- 
" tiful harmony of their motions, and not 
" be struck with the grandeur of the scene, 
" and the power of Omnipotence! But 
" what must be our astonishment when we 
" are told, that this glorious system, with all 
" its superb furniture, is only a small part 



800 

" of the universe ; and if it could be wholly 
66 annihilated, would be no more missed, 
u by an eye which could take in the whole 
u Creation, than a grain of sand from the 
" sea shore ! 

" It is in these higher regions, that the 
" Deity has displayed himself in such in- 
u deliblc characters as must rouse the 
" most insensible spectator, and fill his 
" mind with admiration and astonishment I 
u By contemplating the magnitudes and 
" distances of the fixed stars, all partial 
" considerations of high and low r , great 
" and small, vanish from the mind ; and 
" we are presented with such an unbounded 
*' view of Nature, and the immensity of 
" the works of Creation, as overpowers 
" all our faculties, and makes us ready to 
" exclaim with the Psalmist, Lord, what 
" is man, that thou art mindful of him 9 or 



SOI 

" the son of man thai thou regardest 

Discoveries made in these starry regions, 
and the changes incidental to particular 
star?, perfectly coincide with the funda- 
mental doctrine of revelation concerning 
the destination of our world. There w r e 
are taught to believe and calculate on the 
final decomposition of the earth and plane- 
tary system, or perhaps of the whole uni- 
verse ! Who knows but in the consolida- 
tion of ours with other adjacent systems 
into one more general and universal, our 
earth may perish by its vicinity or collision 
with masses of superior magnitude and 
gravity ; or, like other bodies and systems, 
the solar one may now be actually chang- 
ing its situation in absolute space, and the 

* Bonnycaslle's Introduction to Astumomj. 



302 

awful process may be far advanced which 
shall end in new heavens and a new earth! 

Let us here attend to the analogical rea- 
soning of a very eminent astronomer, 
founded upon the most intent and accurate 
investigation of the heavens. 

By observations, such as this paper 
has been calculated to promote and faci- 
" litate, we are enabled to resolve a pro- 
A ' blem not only of great consequence, but 
in which we are all immediately concerned. 
*' Who, for instance, would not wish to 
" know what degree of permanency we 
*' ought to ascribe to the lustre of our sun ? 
& Not only the stability of our climates, 
but the very existence of the whole ani- 
H mal and vegetable creation itself, is in- 
" volved in the question. Where can we 
" hope to receive information upon this 



503 

subject but from astronomical observant 
" tions? If it be allowed to admit the 
*' similarity of stars with our sun as a point 
"established, how necessary will it beta 
* € take notice of our neighbouring suns, in 
*' order to guess at that of our own ! That 
" star which among the multitude we have 
" dignified by the name of sun, to-morrow 
" may slowly begin to undergo a gradual 

decay of brightness, like Leonis, Ceti, 
" Draconis, Ursa Majoris, and many 
" other diminishing stars that will be men- 
*' tioned in my catalogues. It may sud- 
cc denly increase, like the wonderful sta$ 
4 ' in the back of Cassiopeia Vchair, and the 
" no less remarkable one in the foot of 
*' Serpentarius, or gradually come on like 
46 Geminorum, Ceti, Sagittarii, and many 
iC other increasing stars, for which I also 
" refer to my catalogues. And lastly, it 
^ may turn into a periodical om of twenty- 



304 

" five days duration, as Algol is one of 
" three days, Cephei of five, Lyra of six, 
" Antinoi of sev en ; and as many others are 
18 of various periods. 

" Now, if by a proper attention to this 
u subject, and by frequently comparing 
46 the real state of the heavens with such 
" catalogues of brightness as mine, it should 
fii be found that all, or many of the stars 
46 which we now have reason to suspect to 
46 be changeable, are indeed subject to an 
" alteration in their lustre, it will much 
" lessen the confidence we have hitherto 
" placed upon the permanency of th& 
46 equal emission of light of our sun. Many 
" phenomena in natural history seem to 

44 point out some past changes in our cli- 

45 mates. Perhaps the easiest way of ac- 
44 counting for them, may be to surmise 
• 6 that our sun has been formerly some- 



305 

" times more, and sometimes less bright* 
" than it is at present. At all events, it 
" will be highly presumptuous to lay any 
" great stress upon the stability of the pre- 
" sent order of things ; and many hitherto 
" unaccountable varieties that happen in 
iC our seasons, such as a general severity 
" or mildness of uncommon winters or 
" burning summers, may possibly meet 
66 with an easy solution in the real inequa- 
6C lity of the sun's rays*/' 

All that can be discerned in this mighty 
fabric, shews that there is nothing perma- 
nent in its parts; and the most accurate 
and extensive observations of the entire 
system confirm the declarations of holy 
writ, that the things which are seen are 



* Philosophical Transactions for 1796, Part I. 
p. 185. 

X 



306 

temporal*; that the host of heaven shall be 
dissolved and fall away in succession as 
decayed leaves from the vine, and the ripe 
fruit from the fig-tree 

Thus the greatest and sublimes t works 
of God, correspond so exactly and uni- 
formly with his word, that the better these 
are known, this will obtain the stronger 
belief ; and the deeper we penetrate into 
the arcana of Nature, the more shall we be 
qualified for appreciating the evidence and 
excellence of revelation. 

How astonishing the goodness and grace 
of God, that in the immensity of the 
Heavens, we who inhabit the lowest and 
least of his works, and are to the natives of 
the worlds around us but as insects on a 



* Cor. iv. 18. 



t Is. xxxiv. 4. 



307 

mole-hill, should experience so many proofs 
of that benign dispensation by which we 
are rescued from eternal destruction ! The 
whole economy of the firmament is an illus- 
trious document that his mercy is above the 
heavens. In proportion as we unroll and 
contemplate the majestic mysteries of Crea- 
tion, and develope the wonders with which 
it abounds, we see that the Maker and 
Father of all, hath no where left himself 
or the revelation of his will for our salva- 
tion, without a witness. These are thy 
doings, O Lord, and they are marvellous 
in our eyes ! 



308 



THE UNIVERSE. 



the high-born soul 

Disdains to rest her heav'n-aspiring wing 
Beneath its native quarry. Tir'd of earth, 
And this diurnal scene, she springs aloft 
Thro' fields of air ; pursues the flying storm, 
Rides on the volley'd lightning thro' the heavens : 
Or yok'd with whirlwinds and the northern blast, 
Sweeps the long tract of day. Then high she soars 
The blue profound ; and hov'ring round the sun, 
Beholds him pouring his redundant stream 
Of light ) beholds his unrelenting sway 
Bend the reluctant planets to absolve 
The fated rounds of time. Thence far effus'd, 
She darts her swiftness up the long career 
Of devious comets ; thro' its burning signs 
Exulting measures the perennial wheel 
Of Nature, and looks back on all the stars, 
Whose blended light, as with a milky zone, 
Invests the orient. 

AKENSIDE. 



The stupendous and variegated fabric 
the universe is equally august and in- 



309 

comprehensible. The complicated scenery, 
on a general view, dazzles rather than en- 
lightens, and from the limited structure of 
our faculties, the whole seems more calcu- 
lated to perplex the mind, than to elevate 
its powers, or regulate its inquiries. Even 
those objects with which we are most fami- 
liar, by their vicinity and aptitude to our 
senses, and the perfect exercise of these on 
whatever comes within their cognizance, 
are comparatively but little known ; and 
our senses, though the primary sources of 
all intelligence, it were not difficult to 
shew, by a brief analysis of their respec- 
tive operations, are like every other part 
of our frame, extremely impotent and con- 
tracted. Much ignorance originates in a 
partial comprehension of things with which 
we are daily conversant. And how, therefore, 
without higher means of information and su- 
perior powers, can we be supposed to judge 
x 3 



310 

correctly of those things to which none of 
our senses can have competent access ? Can 
our weak and benighted understandings, 
incapable as they are of explaining the 
mysteries contained in a drop of water, a 
grain of dust, or a blade of grass, marshal 
the stars of light, analyze the orbs of 
Heaven, or adjust the innumerable sys- 
tems which crowd the regions of space? 
Their numbers and distances, their magni- 
tudes and radiance, the celerity of their 
movements, together with their regularity, 
serenity, and uniform appearance, strike 
our minds with astonishment and admira^ 
tion, but still leave them in a state of un- 
certainty and suspense. 

" The objects which we commonly call 
" great," says an ingenious writer, " va- 
" nish, when we contemplate the vast body 
" of the earth ; the terraqueous globe it- 



311 

tfC self is soon lost in the solar system. In 
" some parts it is seen as a distant star ; 
" in others it is unknown, or visible only at 
" rare times to vigilant observers. The 
" sun itself dwindles into a star; Saturn's 
" vast orbit, and the orbits of all the co- 
" mets, crowd into a point, when viewed 
66 from numberless spaces between the 
" earth and the nearest of the fixed stars. 
" Other suns kindle light to illuminate 
" other systems, where our sun's rays are 
" unperceived; but they also are swallowed 
" up in the vast expanse. Even all the 
" systems of the stars that sparkle in the 
" clearest sky, must possess a corner only 
" of that space, through which such sys- 
" terns are dispersed ; since more stars are 
" discovered in one constellation, by the 
" telescope, than the naked eye perceives 
" in the whole heavens. After we have 
" risen so high, and left all definite mea- 
x4 



312 

** sures far behind us, we find ourselves no 
45 nearer to a term or limit ; for all this is 
" nothing to what may be displayed in the 
" infinite expanse, beyond the remotest 
" stars that have hitherto been disco- 
" vered* " 

Notwithstanding the humiliating sen- 
sations which this view of the bound- 
Jess expanse naturally and properly tends 
to excite in the mind of every thinking 
man, still the frame of the universe fur- 
nishes abundant matter for his contempla- 
tion, as a whole as well as in its separate 
parts. 

This magnificent fabric is allotted out in 
detached portions to created beings ; but it 
is in the unity of the stupendous whole that 

* Maclaurin's View of Sir Isaac Newton's Disco- 
veries, p. 16. 



313 

sovereign perfection pre-eminently shines. 
The imagination, indeed, may be justly 
astonished at its own temerity ; but, in rea- 
lity, the cause is universally proportioned 
to the effect, and there is nothing either 
great or small in immensity. 

In the regions of space, all the fixed stars 
have their orbits assigned them, each lead- 
ing in its train a retinue of planets and 
comets, in the same manner as we and our 
moon revolve round the sun, and as Jupi- 
ter and Saturn conduct their respective 
satellites. 

All these systems of worlds resemble^ 
though probably on a larger scale, that to 
which we belong, since in each, the bodies 
of which it is composed revolve round 
a common centre, as the planets and co- 
mets do round the sun, It is even pro- 



314 

babie that several individual systems con- 
cur in forming others more general and ex- 
tended throughout the regions of immen- 
sity. Those, for instance, that are com- 
prehended in the milky-way, perhaps make 
component parts of a more enlarged sys- 
tem ; and this again may belong to other 
ways, with which it constitutes an entire 
fabric, or a vast machine in constant mo- 
tion, and acting by immutable laws. 

Here then we may conceive the milky- 
way made up of various systems, each of 
which has its centre of revolution ; and the 
whole taken together, still making but a 
small part of a greater system in which it 
is included, with an infinity of others of a 
similar description. 

Thus every thing revolves — the earth 
round the sun ; the sun round the centre 



315 

of his system ; that round a centre in com- 
mon to it with other systems; this group or 
assemblage about a common centre, with a 
prodigious number of the same kind ; and 
where is the boundary of the whole ? 

As the fixed stars gravitate towards one 
another with their respective trains of pla- 
nets, we should have the more reason to 
dread the introduction of anarchy, if they 
had no central body to regulate them. 
We cannot suppose that in the solar system 
so many bodies, the sum of whose masses 
greatly exceeds that of the sun, should 
exactly revolve in their orbits, if he were 
withdrawn. With how much more reason 
then ought we not to invest those vast sys- 
tems of fixed stars with a central body, pow- 
erful enough to regulate all their motions ? 



But what shall we say of an assemblage 



316 

of systems of milky-ways, considered as a 
whole ? What disorder must not arise, 
were we to deprive them of particular as 
well as common centres? How should we 
imagine that millions of millions of planets 
and comets, of suns and systems, could 
peaceably pursue their courses, amidst an 
infinity of orbits crossing each other, if all 
the centres were in empty space, if the di- 
rections of their respective gravities were 
continually varying, and if there existed 
no common and preponderating gravitation, 
in condition to regulate the immense ma- 
chine, and to keep it in perpetual order 
and motion ? 

Every consideration then leads us to 
lodge in the centres, bodies of a force 
equal to the preservation of good order 
in their respective realms, and to carry 
all these round a common body on which 



317 

each of them depends, according to its 
station. 

But who is capable of measuring the 
space and time which all these globes and 
worlds employ in revolving round that im- 
mense body, the throne of Nature, and 
the footstool of the Divinity? What painter 
or poet, what human imagination, can 
figure the beauty and magnificence of this 
source of all that is beautiful, great, and 
magnificent, from whence order and har- 
mony flow in eternal streams through the 
whole bounds of the universe ? And even 
what we call by this extensive term, all 
the suns and planets, satellites, and comets, 
which together form this mighty fabric, 
may be no more than a portion of the 
works of God ; bearing such a relation to 
a superior order of things as our orbit 
does to the solar system, and as this 
system again bears to the universe. 



318 

This conjecture at least appears to re- 
ceive some countenance from the observa- 
tions which have been made on those ap- 
pearances in the Heavens called nebulous 
stars, but which in reality are not lucid 
bodies, which emit or reflect light like the 
sun and moon ; neither are they the com- 
bined light of clusters of stars like the 
milky-way. " But I take them," says an 
accurate and pious observer, " to be vast 
" arese or regions of light infallibly beyond 
" the fixed stars, and devoid of them. I 
" say regions, meaning spaces of a vast 
" extent, large enough to appear of such a 
" size as they do to us, at so great a dis- 
" tance as they are from us." 

" I leave it," says he, " to the superior 
" sagacity and penetration of others, to 
judge whether these nebulosae are parti- 
" cular spaces of light; or rather, whether 
" they may not, in all probability, be 



319 

" chasms or openings into an immense re- 
" gion of light beyond the fixed stars ; be- 
" cause I find, in this opinion, most of the 
" learned in all ages (both philosophers and 
" divines too) thus far concurred, that there 
" was a region beyond the stars. Those 
" that imagined there were crystalline or 
" solid orbs, thought a codum ernpyrcewn 
" was beyond them, and the primum 
" mobile; and they that maintained there 
" were no such orbs, but that the heavenly 
" bodies floated in the ether, imagined 
" that the starry region w r as not the bounds 
" of the universe, but that there was a 
" region beyond that, which they called 
" the third region and third heaven*." 



* Dr. Derham's Observations on the Appearances 
among the Fixed Stars, called Nebulous Stars, in 
Martyn's Abridgment of the Philosophical Transac- 
tions, vol. viii. p. 132. 



320 

What a sublime field for contemplation 
here expands itself before the human 
mind ! for if the fixed stars are at immea- 
surable distances from us, and if there are 
still perceptible regions of light at an in- 
conceivable distance beyond them, what 
boundaries can we prescribe in our imagi- 
nation to the immensity of Creation ? 

Great and glorious as the system is to 
which we belong, and upon which we are 
able to make certain observations, how 
minute does the whole appear when we 
consider it as encompassed by a sphere of 
prodigious magnitude and brilliancy, a 
glimmering view of which is afforded us 
through these lucid areae, or as it were, by 
means of so many chinks or openings into 
the superior world ? 



This contemplation of the universe re- 



gions, innumerable globes of superior mag- 
nitude and resplendence are perceived, 
ranged in order, and accumulated in 
groups, or clustered like grapes on a vine, 
shining in countless variety, each more 
glorious than our sun, pouring full day 
through the sethereal plain, and in one 
dazzling constellation above another, crowd- 
ing the boundaries of space. Who knows 
but these constellations of radiant orbs, 
blazing on all sides with the brightness of 
so many suns in meridian majesty, may 
illuminate the grand empyreal route which 
leads to the palace of the Great King ; or 
that all this transcendent splendour may 
be no more than the exterior lustre of his 
residence, who dwells in light inaccessible 
and full of glory. 

"With such magnificent constellations of 
flaming worlds are the precincts of the ce- 



338 

lestial mansions studded and adorned. And 
these wonderful prospects, imperfect and 
confused as seen by our limited and ob- 
scure organs, abundantly demonstrate the 
richness, even of exterior creation, and in- 
dicate the beauteous gradation and variety 
in the splendours which distinguish the 
heaven of heavens. 

From these data, furnished by Nature, 
and corroborated by Revelation, we may 
conclude, that the Saints in glory will be 
charmed by the beauty, as well as satis- 
fied with the happiness, of heaven; and 
that this adaptation to the constitutional 
preference of our common nature, is art 
essential ingredient in that perfection to 
which we aspire. There, we hope to be as 
perfect in sense as in intellect, in our bo- 
dily organs as in our spiritual faculties. 
There shall be nothing to offend the sight, 



339 

or cloud from the view the increasing glo^ 
ries of the upper sanctuary, in all this holy 
mountain. How elegant, though figura- 
tive and spiritual, is the sketch which an 
inspired writer gives us of this glorious re- 
gion ! And the city had no need of the 
sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it ; 
for the glory of God did lighten it, and 
the Lamb is the light thereof. 

This contemplation of the heavenly in- 
heritance laid up for those who have faith- 
fully maintained their religious course in 
this state of trial, powerfully tends to wean 
our affections from the allurements of sense, 
and to raise our desires above the perishing 
vanities of the world. But to those who 
are truly "strangers and pilgrims on earth," 
the objects of contempt and persecution to 
the votaries of wealth, pleasure, and am- 
bition, it presents a still more delightful 
% 2 



340 

scene ; and they hear from the seats of 
bliss, the cheering language of exhortation 
and comfort, saying to them, " Ye who 
66 arc treated as the outcasts of society, 
" borne down by the cares and embarrass- 
" meets of a brief precarious existence, 
" lift up your heads and look up, for the 
" day of your redemption draweth nigh. 
" All the incumbrances and embarrass- 
" merits which now afllict and depress you, 
" shall be finally shaken off, with your 
" present habiliments of frailty and mor- 
" tality. Your ultimate destination is here, 
" where none usurp the interests of others, 
" where the distribution of happiness is 
*' equal, and where there is both room and 
" bread emourfi, and to spare. An ever- 
" lasting, unlimited, and well-furnished 
" habitation is reserved for you in this 
" great kingdom ! Envy not, therefore^ 
" the men of the world who make no ac- 



541 

" count of futurity, a little temporary ac- 
u commodation, though it be more indul- 
" gent and splendid than your own ; it is 
" but a prelude to a dirge, the solemnity 
M of which is deep as the grave, and its 
" duration for ever. Fret not yourself on 
" account of your want of riches and dis- 
" tinction. What are these, in all their 
" diversity and accompaniments, but fleet- 
" ing shadows, compared to the enduring 
substance which is reserved for you m 
" these sacred abodes of light and love, to 
" which, in due time, you shall be ad- 
" mitted, if you persevere to the end. 
" Here all your ills will be forgotten, and 
" your sufferings shall end ; here your vir- 
" tuous endeavours will be crowned, and 
<c your best expectations be substantiated/' 



23 



342 



THE CONCLUSION. 



Our situation between the past and 
the future, necessarily connects us with 
both. The state we now occupy, renders 
us dependent on all the scenery with which 
the organic frame is principally conversant ; 
but still our best desires will launch into 
the regions of invisibility. We cannot then 
conclude our speculations more properly 
than by contrasting the objects of sense 
with those of faith. 

Though we are too apt generally to sit 
down content with our present condition, 
the future will engage some of our consi- 
deration. In ordinary life, what is all the 



543 

business and study of man, but a prepara- 
tion for some distant season, wherein he 
hopes to reap the fruit of his labour, and 
to enjoy a rich harvest to crown his abun- 
dant cares ? Frequently disappointed, and 
sometimes mortified with a result contrary 
to what he had expected, hope still impels 
him forward, and new prospects are pre* 
sented to his imagination by the illusive 
power of vanity. Thus he goes on from 
one period of life to another, increasing his 
anxieties, and forming fresh schemes, ac- 
cording to the deceptions which he has 
already experienced, and ending, after all 
the variety and industry of his sanguine 
determinations, in vanity and vexation of 
spirit. 

All nature is full of instruction upon this 
subject, and presents throughout her works 
an illustration of the important, but little- 

z 4 



344 

heeded truth, that every thing is mutable 
here below. A\ hat we call our own, and 
those objects around us with which we 
hold the most familiar acquaintance, pe- 
rish in the use ; and no man, however 
sceptical he may be with regard to the 
truths of religion, will dare to deny the 
evidence of his senses. Not only powerful 
empires have sunk into oblivion, and the 
most stupendous works of art been swept 
into the gulf of destruction ; even mightj 
rivers have shifted their beds and become 
shallows, and vast mountains have pre- 
sented manifest proofs of revolution and 
decay. While, then, we are looking for- 
wards ourselves with a certain, though 
trembling, assurance of our own dissolu-* 
tion, and while we behold on all sides the 
manifest traces of change, why should it 
be deemed incredible that the earth itself 
will die 5 and give place to another state of 



345 

things? Time, the measure of the mundane 
system, compared with the immensity of 
the universe, is but as the span's breadth 
of man's existence, to the eternity that is 
expanded before him ! Fluctuation is per- 
ceptible in every part of Nature which 
comes under our inspection ; and though 
our contracted period and narrow observa- 
tion, prevent us from seeing with equal 
clearness the changes which take place in 
the whole system, there can be no just 
ground to suppose, that a frame is immu- 
table which is made up of materials con- 
tinually altering their situation and appear- 
ance. 

But what reason leads us to conclude 
from inquiries and experiments properly 
conducted, revelation stamps at once with 
the unerring decision of its Divine Author. 
The Holy Scriptures make it throughout a 



346 

prominent object to convince us of this 
great truth, that all visible things are mu- 
table, and that the succession of time is 
only a stream which leads us to eternity. 
They describe the creation of the world, 
and give the only faithful account of the 
history of man, and of the origin of evil. 
The same oracles carry our view forward 
to the end of time, and present us with the 
tremendous scene of the dissolution of the 
world. 

When we open the Sacred Volume, we 
are gratified with the sublime spectacle of 
the earth rising out of chaos; the darkness 
which covered its bosom dispelled by a 
word ; ihe disorder which raged among 
the elements reduced into a system of obe- 
dience and usefulness, and the whole mass 
assuming so glorious a form, and per- 
forming its revolutions with so much order, 



347 

as to cause the morning stars to sing for 

Natural evil, however, the certain effect 
of moral obliquity, soon changed the aspect 
of creation, and the earth suffered, as a 
punishment for human transgression. 

The divine justice and wisdom fixed an 
indelible impression on our globe, to con- 
vince us of the change which it has under- 
gone, and innumerable are the vestiges 
which it bears in every region, of the visi- 
tation of God. These monumental inscrip- 
tions, if we may so term the remains of the 
antediluvian world, are strong indications 
of the mutability of the earth : and as they 
strengthen the scriptural history of the pri- 
mitive world, so do they confirm the truth 
of the prophetical declarations which deter- 
mine the manner of its dissolution, Esti- 



348 

mating, indeed, the magnitude of objects 
by our senses, and measuring the duration 
of things according to our judgment of 
time, we may be inclined to think that the 
divine predictions are expressed in too 
limited terms, to warrant a literal interpre- 
tation ; because the sentence therein pro- 
nounced against the world has not vet been 
executed. But let it be observed, that 
this very perversion of the divine predic- 
tions concerning the end of the world, by 
those who will be the most nearly con- 
cerned in their accomplishment, has been 
expressly foretold. St. Peter declares, that 
in the last days scoffers shall arise, saying-, 
where is the promise of his coming ? for 
since the fathers fell asleep, all things con- 
tinue as they zcere from the beginning of 
the creation*. But as the same inspired 



* % Pet. iii. 4 3 8, 



349 

writer justly argues, in the view of Omni^ 
potence, one day is but as a thousand 
years, and a thousand years as one day. 
He then proceeds to describe the con- 
flagration, in language corresponding with 
that of Isaiah ; but he adds, that this 
awful event will happen in a manner as 
sudden as the circumstances will be ter- 
rible ; it shall steal upon the inhabitants of 
the earth when they are sunk in a state of 
confident security and infidelity. It is 
true, that in the last days, perilous times 
shall come, when great distractions and 
commotions will prevail over the world, 
and produce a general distress of nations. 
This turbulent state, however, will most 
probably subside into one of calmness and 
temporal prosperity, when the world will 
fall into a moral lethargy, and an indiffe* 
rence to the divine judgments and pro*, 
phetic denunciations. Then shall come the 



350 

end of all things, like a thief in the night , 
When the heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt 
With fervent heat. 

Such is the doom which awaits our 
globe, according to Scripture ; and against 
the manner of it as there described, nothing 
can be alleged on philosophical grounds. 
Much might be said upon this subject ; 
but where the time and causes are neces- 
sarily hidden, it would be presumption to 
explore and folly to explain. Thus much 
indeed is certain, that the constitution of 
nature, as far as is now known, is favour- 
able to the plain declaration of Holy Writ 
concerning the dissolution of the world ; 
and it is not a little observable, that the 
modern discoveries in chemical philosophy, 
though they have not been improved in 
this light, do yet afford a powerful illus- 



321 

duces the most stupendous objects with 
which we are acquainted to insignificant 
points ; the earth itself shrinks to an atom, 
and the mightiest nations, with ail their 
splendid achievements, are but the ephe- 
mera of an hour, or like the animalcula 
which the microscope helps us to behold 
in a globule of water. 

How properly then does the Psalmist 
teach us to improve this sublime conside- 
ration of the celestial world, into a lowly 
estimate of ourselves, and a devout grati- 
tude to that goodness, which from the 
heights of infinite excellence, glory and 
power, condescends to regard the chil- 
dren of the earth, to hear their pray- 
ers, to supply their wants, and, what is 
still more wonderful than all, to crown 
them with everlasting salvation ! 

Y 



322 

When I consider the heavens the work of 
thy fingers, the moon and the stars which 
thou hast ordained, what is man that thou 
art mindful of him, and the son of man 
that thou visitcst him*? 

Compared with the extent and splen- 
dour, the power and duration of the state 
above us ; of that region which is empha- 
tically called " his Father's house/' by 
him who came to bring life and immor- 
tality to light through his gospel, all 
terrestrial things become a bubble ; they 
fade away into vapour, and are dispelled 
by the rays of the morning. 

Let us then, who are the heirs of such 
an eternal w r eight of glory, be careful not 



* Psalm viii. 5, 4. 



323 

to look or anxiously regard the things 
which are seen, but the things which are 
not seen ; for the things which are seen 
are temporal; but the things which are not 
seen are eternal*. 



* 2 Cor. iv. 18. 



524 



THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS. 



Into the heav'n of heav'n I have presura'd 
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air. 

MILTON. 



These elevated and stupendous 
scenes direct our contemplations to that 
sublime retreat, appropriated by our Hea- 
venly Father for the future and everlast- 
ing accommodation of his universal fa- 
mily. This is the centre of supreme at- 
traction to the human heart, the ultima- 
tum of our purest and best inclinations, 
the fruition of our highest hopes, and the 
completion of that happiness to which our 



325 

nature in all its organs, energies, and fa- 
culties, habitually tend. 

An object of such importance to crea- 
tures formed and situated as we are, must 
be interesting above all others ; since, to 
purchase and prepare it for our reception, 
the great work of redemption was ac- 
complished, with all the wonders and mi- 
racles of mercy which distinguished thi$ 
exceeding love of God to mankind. And 
to give us all the information concerning 
the nature, inhabitants, and enjoyments 
of that celestial world we are capable of 
acquiring, revelation describes it under 
various sensible qualities admirably adapted 
to our slow apprehensions, and demon- 
strating at the same time that it is the seat 
of consummate perfection and felicity to 
our corporeal as well as mental faculties. 
y3 



326 

The perceptible quality of altitude is 
frequently applied in Scripture to the fu- 
ture abode of the blessed ; it is superior to 
all the regions in the universe of God. 
We read that heaven is high above the 
earth, and that the holy Apostle, when 
he was favoured with a view of glories 
which could not be described, was " caught 
" or rapt up by the spirit into the third 
" heavens." 

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing 
as above or beneath, high and low. These, 
and other synonimous terms, can have no 
meaning but in relation to the globe we 
inhabit, and as they are restricted by lo- 
calities which bound our present situation. 

All approximation to excellence and per- 
fection we usually measure by the same 
terms, and heaven may well be called the 



327 

highest place in the universe, because it is 
the best. Were this holy habitation of the 
righteous less remote, we might think it 
too easy of access ; and were it represented 
as wholly immaterial, might it not appear 
either too equivocal to be credited, or too 
spiritual to be realised ? But to suit our 
mixed nature, and accord at once with the 
cognizance of sense and the testimony of 
faith, it is neither wholly disclosed nor 
altogether concealed. Thus hope is sub- 
stantially animated by locality, and the 
profound research of reason and science 
affords additional validity to the evidence 
of what has been explicitly revealed. 

We know so little about the real essence 
of matter, or the essential qualities of bo- 
dies, that no perfect definition of either 
can be given. Now, what is so remote 
from all intelligence derived from our 



328 

senses, as the empyreal heavens ? What 
can we know of what is revealed to us as a 
matter of assured hope, and concerning 
which it is said, that eye hath not seen, 
nor the car heard, neither hath it entered 
into the heart of man to conceive the things 
which God hath prepared for them who 
love him? 

Heaven is, notwithstanding, represented 
to us as capable of corporeal residence. 
We read of Enoch's translation to heaven, 
nearly as soon as our world began ; and 
Elijah the prophet, so famous for his zeal, 
was manifestly carried up into heaven in a 
chariot of fire. 

These events, however miraculous and 
extraordinary, were certainly designed as 
demonstrative evidences of a separate state, 
and they as fully prove that our earth, 



329 

thus relinquished by these men of God, is 
not so substantial and lasting as that to 
which they ascended. 

Many bodies of the saints, we are also 
told, came out of their graves at the cru- 
cifixion of our Saviour, and were probably 
among his retinue to glory when he ascend- 
ed up on high. And the bodies of Chris- 
tians, which at the last day shall be raised 
and made like unto Christ's glorious body, 
are destined to enter with him into the im- 
mediate presence of his eternal Father, 
that where their head and representative is, 
they may be also. 

Heaven, therefore, as a place actually 
prepared for human creatures, must be an 
appropriate receptacle for them in their 
compound natures of matter and spirit. 
The former, of which our present temporary 



330 

tabernacles are composed, will indeed be 
changed into the latter, so far as may be 
necessary to fit them for inhabiting and 
enjoying a seat in the kingdom of God. 

We shall then be entirely removed from 
every thing gross and mortal, sensual, 
animal, and earthly. But there is no 
authority for supposing that we shall also 
be divested of motion, gravity, and other 
material qualities. 

The resurrection will be a renovation of 
the human structure, and a re-establish- 
ment of our best capacities of enjoyment. 
Organic life must in consequence be re- 
stored in full perfection, and the visible in- 
tercourse and communion of the holy 
angels, and the glorified bodies of saints 
in light, will be an addition to the happi- 
ness of both. 



331 

But the extent of this glorious habita- 
tion, or rest which awaiteth the children 
of God, must be in proportion to the 
magnitude of that wisdom which planned, 
and that grace which accomplished, their 
redemption. 

When we behold a magnificent palace, 
we expect to find such variety in the di- 
mensions and decorations of the apart- 
ments, as accord with the station, distinc- 
tion, and character, of those who occupy 
them. The future destination of the righ- 
teous is called a house in which there are 
many mansions; and we have no reason to 
disquiet ourselves with an apprehension 
that any of these are narrow or desolate. 

Wherever we have access to the know- 
ledge of Nature and her works ; that is, 
as far as our limited capacities go, we meet 



332 

with nothing useless or waste. No scene 
seems empty, no space altogether void ; 
there is nothing in the fabric of animate 
or spiritual existence, supernumerary or 
superfluous. 

This economy, which does nothing in 
vain, doubtless extends its wisdom and 
care through all the systems which lie 
beyond us ; and if the extremities abound 
with inhabitants, how much more abun- 
dant must they be in the interior ? If the 
remotest provinces be full, the metropolis 
of the empire cannot be thin ; if countless 
multitudes crowd the precincts of Creation, 
what hosts of enlightened and glorified 
creatures must possess those regions which 
are replenished and enriched with all that 
can delight the mind without satiety, and 
employ its faculties without fatigue ! 



333 

Surely, if every part of the material 
Creation is thus prolific, and continually 
contributing to the production and support 
of beings of various capacities and different 
degrees of duration, the " heaven of hea- 
" vens," the seat of superior intelligence 
and endless bliss, is not the receptacle of a 
party, as bigotry decrees, nor so con- 
tracted and impervious a region as super- 
stition would represent. No: reason, judg- 
ing from observation of the divine goodness, 
which is in constant exercise upon all the 
works of God, kindles a more enlarged 
sentiment; and the Author of our salvation 
confirms it by the declaration, that the 
righteous nations, or the redeemed from 
among men, will be innumerable, and that 
their abode will be as capacious as the 
circle of the universe. They shall come, 
says Christ himself, from the east and from 
the west, from the north and from the 



334 

south, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God. 
Thus also the Psalmist, in a direct pro- 
phecy of the Messiah, and of the extent 
of his glorious kingdom, compares the 
righteous, who are the purchase of his re- 
demption, to drops of dew that sparkle on 
the bosom of the morning. 

Look back on all those ages that are 
past, and have rolled away in long succes- 
sion ever since time began : what colonies, 
one after another, may we not believe, in 
all this vast interval, have obtained a set- 
tlement on the blissful shore from every 
region under heaven ? 

Look around on all the quarters of the 
globe, what a company, even in this evil 
generation, are still pure amidst corrup- 
tion, and who keep their garments cleaa 



335 

from the contagion which spreads its bale- 
ful influence all around and among all 
ranks ? 

Few and contemptible as they may ap- 
pear to their insensible cotemporaries, they 
are sprinkled more plentifully than we 
are aware, among all climes and kindreds, 
tongues and nations, as the salt of the earth, 
who keep us, ill as we are, from growing 
worse, and shining among us as lights in a 
dark place, and who are in fact the props 
of a tottering world ! 

Look forward to millions yet unborn, 
who will rise up from time to time, as pat- 
terns and blessings to the latest ages, with 
minds enlightened by the knowledge of 
God, and hearts full of zeal, to perform his 
service ; when distant nations shall rejoice 
in him;, and call him blessed; when to him 



336 

shall be the gathering of the people, who 
from the four winds of heaven shall flock 
to him as doves to their windows, and 
when the glory of the latter ages shall be 
realised in the day of the manifestation of 
the sons of God ! 

But where is this paradise or place of 
supreme excellence and beauty ? Is it in 
any quarter or recess of this ample uni- 
verse, or does it not more probably en- 
compass the whole ? AY ho can furnish us 
with a map of its contents, or a chart of 
its latitudes and bearings; who can deli- 
neate its beauties, explore its resources, 
survey or define its boundaries ? 

By the discoveries of modern philosophy, 
and the aids which invention has supplied 
to the means afforded us by Nature for 
exploring the recesses, of the higher re- 



351 

tration of the great revealed truth, that 
this earth and visible heaven shall pass 
away, and their place he seen no more*. 

What a subject for contemplation is 
here expanded before us, and how forcibly 
does it impress the mind with a sense of 
the vanity stamped upon earthly great- 
ness ! All created excellence fades away 
like a vapour, when we behold the terra- 
queous globe disappearing like a bubble 
upon the mighty waters, and leaving no 
perceptible blank in the universe. Here 
let us close our observations in the lan- 
guage of a masterly writer, but previously 
calling the attention of every reader to the 
apostolical exhortation, seeing then that till 
these things shall he dissolved, what maimer 
of persons ought ye to be in all holy conver- 
sation and godliness. 



* Luke, xxi. 33. Rev. xx. 11. 



352 

u Let us now, to take leave of this sub- 
ject, reflect upon this occasion on the 
" vanity and transient glory of all this 
" habitable world ; how by the force of 
" one element breaking loose upon the rest, 
" all the varieties of nature, all the works 
" of art, all the labours of men, are re- 
" duced to nothing : all that we admired 
" and adored before as great and magnifi- 
" cent, is obliterated or vanished ; and 
" another form and face of things, plain, 
" simple, and every where the same, over- 
" spreads the whole earth. Where are 
46 now the great empires of the world, and 
" their great imperial cities ? their pillars, 
" trophies, and monuments of glory ? Shew 
" me where they stood, read the inscrip- 
¥ tion, tell me the victor's name. W hat 
" remains, what impressions, what diffe«- 
" rence or distinction, do you see in this 
" mass of fire ? Rome itself, eternal Rome, 



353 

" the great city, the empress of the world, 
" whose domination and superstition, an- 
" cient and modern, make a great part of 
" the history of the earth; what is become 
" of her now ? She laid her foundations 
" deep, and her palaces were strong and 
" sumptuous ; she glorified herself, and 
" lived deliciously ; and said in her heart, 
" I sit a queen and shall see no sorrow. 
" But her hour is come ; she is wiped 
" away from the face of the earth, and 
" buried in perpetual oblivion. But it is 
" not cities only, and works of men s hands, 
" but the everlasting hills, the mountains 
" and rocks of the earth, are melted away 
" before the sun, and their place is no 
" where found. Here stood the Alps, a 
" prodigious range of stone, the load of 
" the earth, that covered many countries, 
" and reached their arms from the Ocean 
" to the Black Sea ; this huge mass of 
a at 



354 

u stone is softened and dissolved like a ten- 
" der cloud, into rain. Here stood the 
" African mountains, and Atlas with his 
" top above the clouds ; there was frozen 
M Caucasus, and Taurus, and Imaus, and 
M the mountains of Asia ; and yonder, to- 
u wards the north, stood the Riphaean hills, 
" clothed in ice and snow. All these are 
" vanished, dropt away as the snow upon 
" their heads, and swallowed up in a red 
u sea of fire. Great and marvellous are 
44 thy works, Lord God Almighty ; just 
* fi and true are tluj ways, thou King of 
" Saints. Hallelujah*." 



* Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth, b. iii. c. II- 



NOTES, 



Page 20, Note [a]. The illustration of the 
stone and the watch, in the state of the argument 
with which this masterly performance opens, was 
adopted and urged against atheism by that great 
and good man Sir Matthew Hale, in his u Primitive 
<c Origination of Mankind," folio, 1661. Dr. Paley, 
however, has carried on the argument, and branched 
out the proofs, in a manner peculiar to himself. 
His work is unanswerable ; and it has the merit of 
giving entertainment, and affording scientific in- 
struction, while it is establishing in the mind the 
fundamental principles of Natural Theology. The 
chapter on astronomy is not equal to the, rest of the 
book ; but happily, what Paley left imperfect upon 
this subject has been supplied by Professor Vince, 
in his four excellent discourses preached before the 
University of Cambridge, and printed under this 
title: " A Confutation of Atheism, from the Laws 
" and Constitution of the Heavenly Bodies;" 1807. 



356 

Page 20, Note [/;]. The celebrated foundation 
of Mr. Bumpton has produced many important 
■works in defence of Christianity ; and it were to be 
w ished that a good abridgment of the whole series 
was undertaken by some able hand, somewhat in the 
manner of Burnet's Abridgment of the Boylean 
lectures. Few theological performances of mo- 
dern times w ill be found on examination to equal, 
and unquestionably none can be said to excel, the 
Discourses of Professor While, the Horse Mosaics 
of Mr. Faber, and the " Y r iew of the Evidences of 
" Christianity at the close of the pretended Age of 
<c Reason, in eight Sermons preached before th« 
" University of Oxford in 180 J, at the Lecture 
" founded by the Rev. John Bampton, Canon of 
66 Salisbury, by Edward Nares, M. A. late Fellow 
" of Merlon College." This last work is a com- 
plete refutation of deism, and the notes subjoined 
to the sermons are a magazine of erudition, bring- 
ing together all the objections of modern infi- 
delity, and overthrowing them by invincible argu- 
ments. 

Page 27, Note [c]. The golden age of the an- 
cients, is too palpable a representation of a primi- 



357 

tive state of innocence, to bave originated in the 
fertility of imagination. Nothing in nature or ana- 
logy could have given birth to such a fable ; and 
yet, according to the first record of the history of 
man, we know that a state somewhat similar to what 
the poets have described, actually had an existence 
upon our globe, though the period of its duration 
was probably contracted within the space of a few 
days. But the remembrance of the paradisaical 
innocence and happiness, must have formed one of 
the tenderest sentiments of our fallen parents, and 
no doubt it engaged much of their discourse, whence 
the traditionary memorial naturally passed down- 
wards through the various branches of their poste- 
rity, and was heightened and illustrated by many 
fictitious circumstances in its progress, till the 
simple truth was lost in the exuberance of poetical 
ornament. 

Page 34, Note [d] . The degree of knowledge 
given to man before the fall, must have been in pro* 
portion to his wants, and it is certain that he had 
an intuitive acquaintance with Nature, which can- 
not now be attained but with extreme labour and 
continual application. We read, that he gave 
a a 3 



353 

names to the different classes of animals, immedi- 
ately upon their being arranged in his presence. 
After his expulsion from Paradise, and when his 
family increased considerably upon the earth, va- 
rious inventions took place, which required a tho- 
rough intimacy with the elementary principles and 
actions of natural substances. The wickedness 
which contributed to the destruction of the antedi- 
luvian world, was aided by the discoveries of sci- 
ence and the elegancies of art. And after that great 
event, and the establishment of a new race, we find 
that mankind were well acquainted with architec- 
ture, and had no mean knowledge of the arts con- 
nected with jurisprudence and government. 

Page 39, Note [e]. No person of any judgment; 
would hesitate between the opinions of Longinus and 
Voltaire, upon the subject of literary composition. 
The candid Grecian has given his voluntary testi- 
mony in behalf of Moses as a wrifcr, while the pe- 
tulant French sciolist, who was equally ignorant of 
Hebrew and theology, has endeavoured to dispa- 
rage what he did not understand. In proportion 
as language and philosophy are studied in their 
principles, so will the Sacred Writings arise in 



35Q 

estimation ; and it may be safely asserted, because 
it is easily proved, that all the discoveries of modem 
science have served to confirm the truth of the Mo* 
saic history. 

Page 57, Note ("/]. It is now known, that 
water and air are convertible into each other ; where- 
fore, considering the immensity of the atmosphere, 
and its continual activity, it is not unreasonable to 
suppose, that these changes are regularly going on 
therein, and producing rain, dew, and various 
other phenomena. Who, then, after attending to 
the present state of chemical knowledge, will find 
a difficulty in the Mosaic history, where it is said, 
that God made the firmament^ and divided or sep a~ 
rated the waters which were under the firmament 
from the waters which were above thefirmament ?" 
As long as it was believed that air and water were 
unchangeable elements, this passage, no doubt, was 
hard to be understood ; but since we are acquainted 
With the constituent principles of both, the sacred 
history is found to be philosophically correct. 



Page 137, Note [g]. When the tribes of men 
multiplied, and the sense of true religion propor- 
a a 4: 



36o 

tionally decayed, superstition converted the original 
rites of devotion to the honour of visible objects. 
Hence sacrifice, which was of divine origin, and 
had unquestionably been observed in Paradise, as 
well as the institution of the Sabbath, became the 
means of propitiating the celestial influences. The 
heavenly bodies were regarded as the seats of supe- 
rior intelligence, the presiding powers of which 
took an interest in the characters and affairs of men. 
Tliifc. introduced polytheism and judicial astrology, 
with the innumerable vanities of amulets and talis- 
mans, oracles and auguries, so general among all 
the nations of antiquity. 

Page 139, Note [7? J. The curious book here 
alluded to, was originally published in 1714, with 
the title of " An Inquiry into the Nature and Place 
61 of Hell. Shewing, 1. the Reasonableness of a 
#< Future State; 2. the Punishments of the Next 
" Life; 3. the several Opinions concerning the 
a Place of Hell ; 4. that the Fire of Hell is not me- 
66 taphoricai, but real; 5. the Improbability of 
6C that Fire's being in or about the Centre of the 
6t Earth ; 6. the Probability of the Sun's being the 
^ Local Hell, with Reasons for this Conjecture, 



36 1 

u and the Objections from Atheism, Philosophy, 
" and the Holy Scriptures, answered. By Tobias 
" Swinden, M. A. Rector of Cuxton, in Kent." 
After the author's death, the publisher sent out a 
new edition, with a very unwarrantable addition to 
it, called a Supplement, in which an attempt was 
made to invalidate Mr. Swinden's arguments on the 
eternity of Hell torments 3 8vo. 1727. 

Page Ml, Note [ij. According to Dr. Herschel, 
the elastic fluid which constitutes the atmosphere of 
the sun, is more or less lucid and transparent ; and 
that this luminous matter is what furnishes us with 
light. In elucidating this subject, which be does 
by analogy, he makes the following observation on 
the production of the clouds in our atmosphere: 
" These are probably decompositions of the elastic 
" fluid of the atmosphere itself, when such natural 
a causes, as in this grand chemical laboratory are 
" generally at work, act upon them.' , u The eX- 
u tent of our own atmosphere we see is still pre- 
4 i served, notwithstanding the copious decomposi- 
tc tions of its fluids in clouds and falling rain, in 
<c flashes of lightning, in meteors, and other lumi- 
" nous phenomena ; because there are fresh supplies 



302 

" of elastic vapours continually ascending to make 
good the waste occasioned by those decomposi- 
** tions." — Philosophical Trcmsaclions for 1795. 
The same accurate observer concludes, that the sun 
is not a body of fire, but an inhabited globe, more 
desirable than our own. 

Page 217 9 Note [k]. This was the position of 
the learned but eccentri« Whiston, who, in his 
ei New Theory of the Earth," very ably refuted 
many visionary conceits advanced by Dr. Thomas 
Burnet in his elegant Theory; but at the same time, 
Whiston fell into others of equal absurdity, which 
were completely exposed by Dr. Keill, in his exa- 
mination of both works. 

Ibid, Noie [7J. It is really astonishing that 
men who, in every thing else, will be guided by 
nothing but actual demonstration and experiments, 
should have recourse to the wildest conjectures and 
the most extravagant hypotheses, for no other end 
than merely to get rid of the Sacred History. Thusj 
"however, it is with respect to the theories which 
have been fabricated by the geological deists, in 
order to overturn, if possible, the plain and intel- 



363 

liglble account of the creation given in the book of 
Cjenesis. BufFon, in many respects an excellent 
observer of Nature, and a writer of great merit and 
elegance, evidently with the design of invalidating 
the Mosaic history, hazards the absurd notion, that 
the earth and the other planets are parts struck off 
from the sun by the collision of comets ; and that 
when our globe assumed this form, it was in a state 
of liquefaction, from the nature of the body to which 
it originally belonged. Now, not to insist upon 
the circumstance already noticed, that the solar orb 
is not a fiery mass, thus much is clear against this 
hypothesis, that if the planets were struck off from 
the body of the sun 3 they would unavoidably have 
tallen back to the same body again, thus completing 
theiv revolution in one course. 

By another set of philosophical unbelievers, the 
truth of the Mosaic history has been attacked upon the 
ground, that the state of the earth proves its anti- 
quity to be much greater than the aera of the crea- 
tion which is laid down in that account. Accord- 
* ing to Brydone, the Canonico Recupero who was 
engaged in writing the history of Mount Etna, dis- 
covered a stratum of lava which flowed from tha< 



364 

mountain, in bis opinion, at the lime of the second 
Punic Avar, or about two thousand years ago ; this 
stratum is not yet covered with soil sufficient for the 
production of cither corn or vines: " it requires 
" then," says the Canon, " two thousand years, at 
" least, to convert a stratum of hva into a fertile 
u field. In sinking a pit near Jaci, in the neigh- 
c€ bourhood of Etna, they have discovered evident 
u marks of seven distinct lavas one under the other, 
u the surfaces of which are parallel, and most of 
u them covered with a thick bed of rich earth. Now 
u the eruption which formed the lowest of these 
" lavas (if we may be allowed to reason," says the 
Canon, i£ from analogy), flowed from the moun- 
u tain at least fourteen thousand years ago." 

Such is this formidable objection to the sacred 
history of the Creation, as given us by Brydone in 
his Travels ; and it is refuted with great ability by 
Bishop Watson, in his Apology for Christianity : 
but the arguments of the learned prelate might have 
been spared, for the w hole tale is a fictitious inven- 
tion qf the traveller ; the Canon Recupero having 
publicly denied that he ever gave Brydone any such 
account (see Mr. Kirwan's Geological Essays, page 



365 

107). But the enemies of righteousness, in their 
restless opposition to the truth, have since espoused 
the romantic legends of the East, to invalidate the 
authority of the Hebrew Scriptures ; and while they 
stretch their scepticism to the utmost, in order to 
recede from the only genuine history of the origin 
of the world and of man, they will eagerly swallow 
the most extravagant pretensions of the Chinese and 
the Hindoos, without being able to comprehend 
them, or to reduce them to any thing like historical 
and mathematical certainty. It is some consolation 
to the plain and sincere believer of the Bible, that 
amidst all this vehement opposition to the founda- 
tion of his faith, the gainsayers themselves are not 
agreed in any common system of their own to be 
established in its room ; nor, while they are so ear- 
nest to prove the high antiquity of the world, have 
they any principles to account for its origin, or the 
time of its commencement. 

Page 237, Note [>J. The fact of the succes- 
sion of plants, perfectly accords with the sacred 
account of the original constitution of the vegetable 
world. That history asserts that all plants were 



366 

formed, each containing its seed for the perpetua- 
tion of the species ; and this is confirmed by obser- 
vation. The juice of the earth may nourish a plant, 
but that is the utmost of its operation ; the Almighty 
alone was capable of forming the matter which con- 
stitutes all bodies, and he only could extract out of 
tli is matter several elements, eacli of which is per- 
petually the same, notwithstanding their dilFerent 
combinations form an infinite variety of bodies. 
The elements may indeed make mutual approaches, 
and intermingle witli each other, but the result will 
be no more than a heap of confused masses — there 
"will be neither organs, nor life, nor soul. Let us 
suppose the earth to be newly created, it will for 
ever continue naked and barren, if it be not arrayed 
and peopled by the Deity. He alone can organize 
bodies, and animate such organized species, as 
plants and animals. The minutest sprig of sorrel 
or chervil is formed, like all the rest of the creation, 
by a particular plan and a special will. As to the 
manner of perpetuating animals and trees after their 
first formation, the Deity might either determine to 
create more, whenever it should be necessary to 
substitute a new one in the room of another that age 



367 

had decayed, or he might at once provide for all 
successions of ages, by enclosing, in the seed of the 
first tree, all its posterity in miniature ; so that 
each species must unavoidably produce its own re- 
semblance, and the earth would be only charged 
with a contribution of juices necessary to nourish 
and unfold the seed : and, indeed, this is the mag- 
nificent order he has been pleased to establish. The 
imagination is astonished, to find millions of seeds 
involved in one another : but reason teaches us to 
receive the fact without hesitation, because the great 
Creator is omnipotent. See Spectacle de la Na- 
ture r vol. i. Derham's Phj/sico-Theologj/y and 
Itay^s Wisdom of God in the Creation. 

Page 277, N'ote [w]. This doctrine of a plu- 
rality of worlds has been rejected by some, on the 
supposed ground of its being contrary to the Scrip- 
ture ; while others again have purposely adopted 
and made use of it, as an argument to invalidate the 
truth of the Mosaic history, and to disprove the 
scheme of redemption contained in the Christian 
revelation. The scruples of the one and the objec- 
tions of the other, are equally fallacious. The 
silence of the Sucred Writings on the subject proves 



SOS 

nothing ; for as Bishop Wilkins justly observed, 
c< the negative authority of Scripture is not pre- 
" valent in those things which are not the funda- 
" mentals of religion ; and 'tis as probable/' be 
adds, " that the Scripture should have informed us 
" of the planets, they being very remarkable parts 
" of the Creation ; and yet neither Moses, nor Job, 
u nor the Psalms (the places most frequent in astro- 
u Domical observations), nor any other Scripture, 
u mention any of them but the sun and moon: be- 
M cause the difference betwixt tliem and the other 
66 stars was known only to those who were learned 
" men, and had skill in astronomy. Now if the 
u Holy Ghost had intended lo reveal unto us any 
" natural secrets, certainly lie would never have 
ci omitted the mention of the planets, which do so 
u evidently set forth the wisdom of the Creator*. " 

From the silence of the Scripture, therefore, no- 
thing can fairly be inferred against the received 
system of astronomy, or the doctrine of a plurality 



* Bishop Wilkins's " Discovery of a New World ; or, A Dis- 
" course tending to prove, that ('tis probable) there may be 
« another Habitable World in the Moon." Fifth edition, 
jia^e 17. 



36g 

of worlds ; because the obvious design of revelation 
is, to teach us truths of another kind, and " 'tis not 
" the endeavour of Moses or the Prophets to disco- 
s "ver any mathematical or philosophical subtleties, 
" but rather to accommodate themselves to vulgar 
<c capacities*." 

In a collection of wise sayings, entitled Walpoli- 
ana, the late Lord Orford is represented as urging 
an objection against Christianity, on the ground 
that if there are more worlds than one, the doctrine 
of redemption cannot be true. This notable argu- 
ment, if so it may be called, must certainly have 
been started in a playful humour, and thrown pur- 
posely in the way of the relater as being a lover of 
paradoxes. Probably Horace Walpole at that mo- 
ment had the royal counsel in his mind, answer -a 
fool according to his folly ^ lest he he wise in his 
own conceit. The gleaner of anecdotes and table- 
talk has published the ridiculous remark, without 
stating the conversation which preceded it. 

But in fact, the doctrine of a plurality of worlds, 



2; Bishop Wilkins, p. 18. 
Bb 



370 

instead of Weakening our faith in revelation, makes 
us rejoice in it ; and the consideration tliat all the 
splendid bodies in the universe are the seats of intel* 
ligent beings, makes us feel the full force of the 
Psalmist's rapturous exclamation : When I consider 
the Heavens ) the icork of thy fingers , the moon 
and the stars ichich thou hast ordained, what is 
man 11: at thou art mindful of him, and the 
son of man that thou visitest him! That reve- 
lation which we prize as our best guide, and the 
redemption which we embrace as our inestimable 
gift, elevate our minds to other worlds, and to the 
numerous mansions which are in our Father's house, 
all replenished with active intelligencies, some in a 
state of probation like ourselves, and others receiving 
the rewards of their faith and righteousness ; for 
according to the Apostle, there is one glory of the 
sun, and another glory of the moon, and another 
glory of the stars ; for one star differ eth from 
another star in glory, 

THE END. 



Printed by U. McMillan, 3 
£cw Street Covent Garden. 5 




Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Dec. 2004 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




